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Yale health expert Dr. David Katz to give Distinguished Lecture on obesity Oct. 25

More than a third of adults and a sixth of youths are obese in the United States, and Yale health expert Dr. David Katz will discuss what can be done about this enormous health crisis in a free Distinguished Lecture Wednesday, Oct. 25, on the JU campus presented by the Brooks Rehabilitation College of Healthcare Sciences.

Dr. David Katz

With nearly 80 million adults having obesity, Katz, Founding Director of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center and Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, will present an overview of the costs and causes of the epidemic in his 6 p.m. talk in Terry Concert Hall titled “Knowing What to Eat, Refusing to Swallow It.”

“We are committed to bringing international health leaders to the JU campus to share evidence-based research on important health and wellness topics,” said Dr. Heather A. Hausenblas, Associate Dean of the School of Applied Health Sciences in the Brooks Rehabilitation College of Healthcare Sciences. “Dr. Katz is recognized globally for expertise in nutrition, weight management and the prevention of chronic disease, and he will discuss the science and solutions to this major health challenge.”

Dr. Christine Sapienza, Dean of the Brooks Rehabilitation College of Healthcare Sciences, said the Distinguished Lecture Series is the college’s way of extending health education to the Jacksonville community.

“Each year, audiences grow larger, and the topics chosen spotlight issues that affect individuals at some level within their life participation,” she said.

Attendees will learn about and engage on research relating dietary pattern to human health, fad diets and the fundamentals of healthy eating, the most salient controversies about diet and health, and evidence-based principles for healthy eating and why people refuse to follow them.

Dr. Katz is active in patient care, research, teaching and public health practice. He established and formerly directed one of the nation’s first combined residency programs in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine, and served as Director of Medical Studies in Public Health at the Yale School of Medicine. He holds five U.S. patents, and has published approximately 200 scientific articles and textbook chapters, and 15 books to date, including multiple editions of leading textbooks in both Preventive Medicine and Nutrition. Recognized globally, he has a major social media following.

The lecture is free to the public. Registration and refreshments for the event are from 5:30 to 6 p.m., followed by the one-hour lecture. Licensed professionals are eligible for one hour of Continuing Education Credits. For more information, contact Dr. Heather Hausenblas at (904) 256-7975, hhausen@ju.edu.