PHAI Online - The Public Health Advocacy Institute
Archive for the ‘Conferences’ Category
Future of Obesity Litigation panel featuring PHAI’s Gottlieb and CSPI’s Gardner airs and is available online
Monday, February 28th, 2011
On January 21, 2011, Northeastern University Law Journal sponsored its third annual symposium. This year, it was entitled “From Seed to Stomach,” and addressed legal and regulatory aspects of obesity and food safety. The symposium was recorded for broadcast by CSPAN, which aired the material from February 25-28, 2011.
PHAI’s Executive Director, Mark Gottlieb, along with Stephen Gardner (Director of Litigation for the Center for Science in the Public Interest) appeared on a panel moderated by Stuart Rossman (Director of Litigation for the National Consumer Law Center) focused on the future of obesity litigaiton. The 80 minute panel is archived on CSPAN’s website. Topics addressed included the “cheeseburger bills,” the role of and use of arguments around choice and individual responsibility, consumer protection law, and the litigation against McDonald’s use of toy giveaways to sell Happy Meals.
Research upon which Mr. Gottlieb’s presentation was based was supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research Program (#66968) and by the National Institutes of Health (grant RO1 CA 87571).
PHAI’s Gottlieb discusses litigation as an approach to reduce childhood obesity at Institute of Medicine Workshop
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
On October 21, 2010, the Institute of Medicine’s Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention hosted a one-day workshop to examine “Legal Strategies in Childhood Obesity Prevention.”
Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law, presented on a panel moderated by UC Berkeley law professor Stephen Sugarman entitled “Using Litigation to Make Change.” Gottlieb’s presentation focused on the underutilized legal tool of state consumer protection laws to stop unfair and deceptive practices that seek to sell junk foods and beverages to kids.
Michael Jacobson from the Center for Science in the Public Interest then discussed the litigation and litigation threats that his organization has been using for policy change.
The final panelist was Joseph Price, an attorney with Faegre and Benson in Minneapolis that defends the food industry. His presentation was critical of the use of litigation to fight childhood obesity and took time to focus on PHAI’s President, Dick Daynard, as well as those who seek to fight obesity who, themselves, are overweight or obese.
All of the proceedings are available via the archived webcast and the litigation panel can be seen here.
PHAI Researches Unfair Food Marketing to Kids (and those who purchase for kids)
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
-- Staff Attorney, Cara Wilking, Presents Poster
On December 2, 2009, Mark Gottlieb and Cara Wilking presented a poster to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research program grantees in Tucson, Arizona.
PHAI is exploring how state consumer protection laws can be used to address unfair and deceptive food and beverage marketing practices directed toward children or those who purchase food and beverages for children. Such state laws may permit private citizens, attorneys general or prosecutors to bring actions consumer fraud.
Recently, Connecticut state attorney general Richard Blumenthal launched an investigation into the Smart Choices labeling program. The eight large food companies that participated in the labeling program (ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Inc., Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Inc., Riviana Foods, Sun-Maid and Unilever) have agreed to remove the program’s logo from their products, at least during the investigation.
PHAI’s findings will be available by the Fall of 2010.
Daynard and Gottlieb publish Op/Ed in Boston Globe: “How to fight America’s obesity epidemic”
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
The article, published on January 8, 2009, addresses some of the 47 policy recommendations that were discussed at our September, 2008 conference and appear in our report to the Obama administration.
PHAI Sends Obama Transition Team Obesity Policy Recommendations
Monday, November 24th, 2008
NEW FEDERAL APPROACHES TO OBESITY EPIDEMIC NEEDED:
Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law Provides Obama Transition Team with Legal and Policy Recommendations
BOSTON (Nov. 24– President-elect Barak Obama’s Health and Human Services Transition Team today was presented with a series of nearly 50 legal and policy recommendations designed to combat the nation’s obesity epidemic.
The document, developed by the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University’s School of Law, was sent to the Transition Team by Richard Daynard, a professor at the law school and president of PHAI.
Download PHAI Obesity Policy Recommendations to Obama Transition Team
“Public health, unlike some other national assets, cannot be ‘rescued’or ‘bailed out,’” Dayard wrote in a cover letter. “A sophisticated and aggressive federal approach to obesity is desperately needed.
“Such an approach could save countless lives and reduce the devastating consequences of this epidemic while meaningfully connecting with healthcare, agriculture and energy policies,” said Mark Gottlieb, Executive Director of the Institute.
“A failure of federal obesity policy would have untenable public health andeconomic consequences.”
The report from PHAI, a non-profit law and policy research organization, was based on recommendations developed by a group of leading national and international experts at a conference at Northeastern on stopping the obesity epidemic earlier this fall.
The conference, co-sponsored by Public Health Law & Policy (PHLP) of Oakland, CA, brought together legal scholars, health policy advocates, and government officials.
The recommendations (www.phaionline.org) include such areas as the economic and social aspects of dietary behavior, ensuring equal access to healthy food and physical activities, food marketing regulations, and menu labeling laws.
Download PHAI Obesity Policy Recommendations to Obama Transition Team (pdf)
PHAI Publishes Presentation Slides from Fifth Conference on Public Health, Law and Obesity
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
The Public Health Advocacy Institute held its Fifth Conference on Public Health, Law, and Obesity on September 19-21, 2008. It was entitled “A Time for Action: An Obesity Agenda for the Next Administration” and was co-sponsored by Public Health Law and Policy.
Many of the speakers have permitted us to release the slides they presented to the conference attendees. In the list of panel topics and speakers below, click on the links to that speaker’s slides. Note that you must have a “PDF” reader in order to view these slides.
Overview of the Public Health/Nutrition Picture:
- Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH – NYU Dep’t Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health [slides-12mb]
Overview of the Legal and Policy Picture:
- Marice Ashe, JD, MPH – Public Health Law and Policy [slides-3mb]
Overview of Important Disparity Issues:
Presidential Candidates’ Statements on Obesity and Discussion
- Mark Gottlieb, JD – Public Health Advocacy Institute [slides]
Economic and Social Aspects of Dietary Behavior: Discussion of adjusting social norms about food choice and consumption through changing cultural norms, and pricing strategies.
- Jamie Chriqui, PhD – University of Illinois at Chicago [slides -1mb]
- Michel Chauliac, MD – French Ministry of Health [slides]
- Kathryn Henderson, PhD – Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale Univ. [slides]
- Jason Smith, JD, MTS – University of Connecticut, School of Medicine [slides]
Federal Food/Nutrition Initiatives and Implications for Food Reform: Discussion of the recently reauthorized Farm Bill, including strategies to adjust the NSLP and implementation and future reauthorizations to address the obesity. Included will be a Q&A on nutrition standards and food system options.
- Kenneth Hecht, JD – California Food Policy Advocates
- Susan Roberts, JD, MS, RD – Food and Society Policy Fellows Program [slides]
- James Weill, JD – Food Research & Action Center [slides]
Marketing: Examination of food marketing and potential regulatory strategies both in the US and abroad.
- Kathy Baylis, PhD – University of Illinois at Chicago [slides]
- Amandine Garde, PhD – Centre of European Legal Studies, University of Exeter [slides-13mb]
- Neville Rigby – International Obesity Task Force, London [slides-1mb]
- Emily York – Advertising Age [slides]
Menu Labeling: Effective Menu Labeling Strategies from both the East and West Coast.
- Jane McKenzie, JD – Prosecutor’s Office, King County, WA [slides]
- Lynn Silver, MD – New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Paul Simon, MD, MPH – Los Angeles County Department of Public Health [slides]
Physical Activity and the Transportation Bill Reauthorization: Policy issues and solutions to increasing physical activity in children and adults through transportation policy, zoning, school policy adjustments, and regulation.
- Angie Cradock, ScD – Harvard School of Public Health
Policy Implications of Childhood and Adult Obesity: Allocating policy focus between childhood and adult obesity.
- Lori Dorfman, DrPH – Berkeley Media Studies Group [slides]
- David Ludwig, PhD, MD – Children’s Hospital Boston [slides-1mb]
- Kevin Ryan, JD, MA – Arkansas Center for Health Improvement
Fifth Conference on Public Health, Law, and Obesity
Friday, June 27th, 2008
A Time for Action:
An Obesity Agenda for the Next Administration.
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) along with Public Health Law & Policy (PHLP) is proud to sponsor the Fifth Conference on Public Health, Law, and Obesity to be held September 19, 2008-September 21, 2008 at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, MA.
View the Updated agenda (pdf) and full List of Speakers (pdf).
Get conference directions (pdf).
Advocates, public health practitioners, legal scholars, researchers, and policy makers are invited to come together to discuss the current legal approaches to the obesity epidemic. The conference will help stakeholders collaborate in developing a public health legal strategy with a foundation in environmental change that empowers communities and populations to tackle the public health implications of a broken food system and built environment.
Topics will include economic and social aspects of dietary behavior, the farm bill and its implications for food reform, food marketing and potential regulatory strategies, menu labeling, and regulatory solutions to increase physical activity. The conference will also discuss major policy implications between childhood and adult and family obesity prevention, as well as important disparity issues to be considered when making any policy recommendations.
Speakers, representing a wide variety of backgrounds and specialties, include Marion Nestle PhD, MPH(New York University), Kathryn Henderson PhD (Rudd Center for food policy and obesity), Frank Chaloupka PhD (University of Illinois at Chicago), Neville Rigby (International Obesity Taskforce), and Paul Simon MD, MPH (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health).
