The  LAEP meeting was held Saturday, June 7, at Louisiana College in Alexandria, LA.  Dr. Mike Brunet spoke on his 4-year project studying the activity level of third grade students in rural areas of Louisiana. His goal was to create a healthier school environment and to make a positive change in children's health. Donna Newton presented information on the Growing Up Fit Together project.  Since 1990, childhood obesity has increased from 12.3% to 32.7%.  Her program was directed at the children in low-income, medically underserved areas of Louisiana. 

Dr. Mike Brunet spoke on his 4-year project studying the activity level of third grade students in rural areas of Louisiana. His goal was to create a healthier school environment and to make a positive change in children's health. He noted that our nation has adopted an "accommodation attitude" instead of a sense of accountability for obesity.  Seats, doorways, furniture, equipment, and portions have all been increased in size to accommodate larger body frames. His 8-year old subjects wore a Body Pod for 2 weeks to track activity, sleep efficiency, energy expenditure and environmental impacts. Parents were surprised to discover that their children were only sleeping an average of 6 hours/night, instead of the 8-10 hours they thought they were sleeping. During the school day, activity levels and MET levels were very low with about 700 calories being burned.  Dr. Brunet made note of the inverse relationship between sleep and obesity.  Decreased sleep time correlated with increased BMI and increased appetite.

Donna Newton presented information on the Growing Up Fit Together project.  Since 1990, childhood obesity has increased from 12.3% to 32.7%.  Her program was directed at the children in low-income, medically underserved areas of Louisiana. It involved three components: Classroom, Movement Instruction, Take It Home. Grades 1-3 were screened for BMI and body girth. In the classroom, the food pyramid was studied and incorporated with the core curriculum (i.e. using math and fractions with serving sizes). Movement instruction included "Five and Jive", which were 5 minute movement activities to be incorporated during the day (i.e. doing arm circles or marching in place while doing a French lesson, performing warm ups during roll call).  Take It Home included a newsletter with healthy recipes and tips, as well as BINGO cards for family activities and healthy foods to try. Inservices and one-on-one training were made available to the teachers.  Over 8000 students have been educated this past year.

All attendees received shoe laces, pedometers, and toothbrushes, courtesy of Donna. Jim Buxton won the Fit Bit Flex.

Debbie Bermudez, Sr. Clinical Dietician at Ochsner, emphasized going back to basics and following a modified Mediterranean diet.  Each snack and meal should contain protein, fat, and carbohydrate.  She stressed eating more natural foods as opposed to processed foods or man-made foods with additives.  Eating fat and sugar (just less of it) is preferable to eating fat or sugar substitutes. Some other suggestions included: eating 2 meatless meals a week, replacing butter or margarine with healthy fats like canola or olive oil, and eating flaky fish 2-3 times a week.  Gluten-free and organic foods are not necessarily healthier options. Some free apps for your phone are Fooducate, Nutrition Menu, and Restaurant Nutrition.

Dan Doucet, an athletic trainer and sports medicine professional at Ochsner, showed us several techniques for evaluating flexibility and strength. He went through upper body, core, and lower body evaluations and demonstrated some different modalities to use for improving strength and flexibility.

On Saturday, March 8, LAEP's first quarter meeting will be held in the Mandeville Room at St. Tammany Parish Hospital, 1201 South Tyler Street, Covington, LA.  The schedule is as follows:
8:00am  Welcome and Introductions
8:15am  "Healthy Eating Guidelines"  -  Debbie Bermudez
9:30am  "Muscular-skeletal Evaluation of the Cardiopulmonary Patient"  -  Dan Doucet  
10:45 am  LAEP Members Meeting

On Saturday, November 16, we held our fourth quarter meeting in conjunction with a continuing education presentation.  There was a great mix of members and LSU students present.

Dr. Lisa Johnson, Assistant Professor at LSU, told us about a grant that LSU was awarded by Edwards Lifesciences.  The goal of the grant-supported program - Geaux Heart Baton Rouge - was to do health screening for the under-served, lower socioeconomic areas of Baton Rouge.  The health screenings would then help to identify individuals who were at high risk for cardiovascular problems that may need further testing or treatment. The grant allowed enough money to refer 50 individuals for stress testing and consultation with a cardiologist.  An initial history and interview was done with each participation.  Blood pressure, cholesterol lab work, ABI (ankle-brachial index), and waist circumference were performed and were followed by an in-depth, consultation about the results. All participants were given a list of resources (i.e. health clinics, community centers) and information to assist in improving heart health. With the help of a multitude of her students, about 500 individuals were screened with almost 50 receiving additional testing. 

On October 5th, LAEP had their quarterly meeting at St. James Place in Baton Rouge.  Members and non-members were invited to attend education sessions that included presentations from Dr. Neil Johannsen and Neil Nett.

The 2012 symposium was held at East Jefferson General Hospital and the EJGH Wellness Center.  The first half of the day was spent in lectures and the second half was spent doing hands on demonstrations.