Calling for a Philadelphia dialog on public health
Will community leaders step up to the plate?
By Michael Yudell
Still, according to a 2010 report from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, obesity in the city has fast become "a norm and a public health crisis." In North Philadelphia, for example, more than two-thirds of kids are overweight or obese.
Poussaint reminded folks at the Town Hall – mainly people who work or have a strong interest in public health – that "if you are really going to deal with that issue, it has to start in pre-school or before." And he insisted that for change to happen, "everybody has to be literate about health." Other panelists and audience members called attention to some of the successes here in Philadelphia — reintegrating recovering addicts back into their communities, community health programs at the 11th Street Family Health Services clinic, the breastfeeding education programs of the Maternity Care Coalition. All agreed, however, that for impactful and lasting change to occur, government, communities, academics, and business must come together to address the challenges we face together.
"It's time to begin a national conversation" on the "serious public health challenges that could cripple our future," they wrote. "With business and government working together, we can find innovative solutions to our must troubling public health-care problems."
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