Georgia PH week [Mar. 4, 2013]

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Former Miss America Urges Eating Disorder Awareness
Emory student's personal battle inspired national platform

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Before Kirsten Haglund was crowned Miss America in 2008, she grew up dreaming of being a ballerina. She had been taking ballet classes since she was 3 years old, and she learned to idolize professional dancing and the small, thin body types of the dancers.

"Ballet was my whole world,

In This Issue

my whole passion. When I turned 12, I wanted to be a

Former Miss America Urges Eating professional dancer. But

Disorder Awareness

that's also the age when your

body starts to change,"

State Urges Preparedness

Haglund said. "So I went on

Georgia House Commends

my first diet at age 12."

Commission

Flu Levels Declining Houston County Health Workers
Slim Down Running on the BeltLine CDC's 'Solve the Outbreak' App

That was the beginning of Haglund's struggle with anorexia nervosa, just one of the eating disorders that plague nearly 20 million women and 10 million men at

PHBRIEFS

some point in their lives, according to the National

DPH Hosts Twitter Chat on Black Health Issues
DPH hosted a Twitter chat Feb. 28 to discuss health issues affecting Georgia's African-
American population. Kimberly

Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), which marked National Eating Disorder Awareness Week at the end of February.


Emory student Kirsten Haglund was crowned Miss America in 2008 at age 19, two years
after battling anorexia nervosa.

Redding, M.D., DPH's director of

health promotion and disease prevention, joined Otis Brawley,

State Urges Preparedness as Spring

M.D., chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, and

Storm

Season Approaches

experts from the Morehouse

School of Medicine, Spelman Georgia has already seen

College and Emory University's a fair amount of wild

Rollins School of Public Health in weather this year, and

a discussion of health disparities with spring arriving in

in heart disease, diabetes, March, the trend is likely

cancer and more. According to to continue. That's all the

the website Hashtracking.com, more reason for

the chat reached more than Georgians to pay

545,000 Twitter users and

attention during National

messages were delivered to 2.1 Severe Weather

million Twitter timelines.

Preparedness Week,

which began March 3.

A resident of one of Adairsville's tornado-ravaged areas walks through debris

Confirming Rapid HIV Test Results
The Georgia Department of
Public Health now offers a
webinar on the use of dried

left in the street from the Jan. 30 tornado.

Georgia residents deal

Photo courtesy of Erin Gray/Neighbor Newspapers.

with a wide range of weather threats throughout the year, said Scott

Minarcine, public health emergency preparedness director for the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH).

blood spots to confirm HIV-1



after a preliminary positive result

on a rapid HIV test. This webinar

is primarily aimed at

Georgia House Commends Commission

organizations that implement HIV testing in non-laboratory,

on

Family

Violence

community settings. In addition

to confirmatory HIV testing, the From 2003 through 2010, at least

same dried blood spot card can 962 Georgians lost their lives due

also be used to collect blood to to domestic violence. In 2010,

test a client for hepatitis, CD4 more than 71,000 crisis calls were

count, viral load and much more. placed to Georgia's certified

View the webinar here .

domestic violence agencies.

Public Health Remembers Because of these statistics and

C. Everett Koop, M.D. concerns about the impact of

C. Everett Koop, M.D., former domestic violence, the Georgia

U.S. Surgeon General appointed House of Representatives charged

by President Reagan, died on the Georgia Commission on Family

Feb. 25. He was 96. Koop is Violence with developing a

remembered as a pioneer in comprehensive plan for ending

addressing nicotine addition, the family violence in the state.

dangers of second-hand smoke Representatives from more than

and for taking on tobacco

20 agencies, including members of

companies over the health risks all three branches of government,

of their products. Koop openly spent 18 months crafting the plan.

addressed the impact of the On Jan. 30, the House officially

emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic in commended the commission's

the 1980s to educate and

efforts in House Resolution 113.

empower the public about the

disease. His bold leadership

changed public policy and our

nation's health.

Flu Levels Declining, but Virus Still

PHEVENTS Plagues Georgia

Inaugural State of Public Health Conference
The inaugural 2013 State of Public Health Conference will be March 21 at the UGA Hotel and
Conference Center in Athens. Tyler Norris, vice president of Total Health Partnerships at Kaiser Permanente, will give the keynote presentation, along with DPH Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who will give the plenary presentation. The event
is sponsored by the Georgia Public Health Training Center and the UGA College of Public Health. Click here for more
information.

Visits to Georgia's emergency departments for influenza-like illness peaked in December.

Let's Move! Atlanta Let's Move! Atlanta, a C.H.O.I.C.E.S for Kids children's nutrition education and physical activity expo, will be March 16

Flu season got off to an early, severe start in Georgia this year, and it won't be over any time soon. Public health officials warn that even though flu levels around the state are mostly decreasing, people are still susceptible to the flu virus.

from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Adamsville Recreation Center, 3201 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW in Atlanta. Activities include
fitness events, free health screenings, vendor exhibits and

Flu season began in mid-November, peaked around Christmas and now seems to be on the decline, a cycle that happened about a month earlier than usual, said Cherie Drenzek, D.V.M., state epidemiologist at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), at a meeting of the Board of Public Health in February.

youth performances. Please wear



sneakers to participate in fitness

activities. Admission is free.

Donations and volunteers are Bringing "The Biggest Loser" to

needed. Click here for more information.

Houston County

2013 Dr. Daniel S. Blumental Contest helps Houston County workers slim Annual Public Health Summit down

Morehouse School of Medicine's

Dr. Daniel S. Blumental Annual Public Health Summit,
"Preventing Obesity through the Life Stages," will be April 2-3, 2013. DPH Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., is a featured speaker. Click here for more
information.

On Nov. 1, 2012, 20 employees at the Houston County Health Department decided to take part in a weight loss competition geared towards creating a healthier lifestyle. The

idea was to have

Free Fitness Classes

employees compete to

DPH offers group exercise classes shed pounds, based on

every day at 2 Peachtree. Classes the competition in the

include dance, kickboxing, yoga, television show, "The

walking and more. Classes are Biggest Loser."

open on a first come, first served

Employees at the Houston County Health Department are using friendly competition
to live healthier.

basis and there is no need to pre-register. Download the
monthly schedule.

Matt Hively, environmental health specialist at the department, decided to start the competition when he realized that he needed to make some

Submit Calendar Entries to communications@dhr.state.ga.us

personal changes in his own life to improve his health and weight. He thought the best way to help himself would be to get help from work colleagues and friends, everyone holding each other

accountable to meet their weight loss goals.

PHTRAINING

Excel Basics March 5
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Running on the BeltLine

Excel Formatting March 5
1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Excel Formulas & Functions March 7
1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Excel Working with Multiple Worksheets March 21
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Excel Charts March 26
10 a.m.-12 p.m.

The Atlanta BeltLine is considered to be among the most ambitious transportation projects in America.
Originally thought up by architect Ryan Gravel in 1999 - he was then a graduate student at Georgia Tech the BeltLine is transforming old railroad corridors that surround Atlanta's downtown into acres of public park space, walking paths, biking trails and light rail.

Excel Data Management & Pivot Tables



March 26

1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

Exercise Detective Skills with CDC's

For employees not at 2 Peachtree, classes can be attended remotely,

'Solve the Outbreak' App

but employees must be registered

48 hours prior to class. Register for all classes through SABA (2 Peachtree attendees register for "Instructor-Led" and remote attendees register for

Get clues, analyze data, solve the case and save lives! In this fun iPad app, you get to be the Disease

"Virtual" classes). View monthly Detective.

training calendars on PHIL.

Contact Lisa Miller if you have questions.

Do you quarantine the village? Talk to people who

Look for Word & PowerPoint are sick? Ask for more lab classes in April and Access classes results? The better your

in May.

answers, the higher your

score -- and the more

Submit Calendar Entries to

quickly you'll save lives.

communications@dhr.state.ga.us You'll start out as a trainee and can earn badges by solving cases,

with the goal of earning the top rank: Disease Detective.

PHNEWS

Click here to download.

Deaths of teen drivers up nationally, down in Georgia

Mediterranean Diet Shown to Ward Off Heart Attack and Stroke

Gaps in the Breastfeeding Trend

Children in U.S. Are Eating Fewer Calories, Study Finds

Hospitals clamp down on dangerous early elective
deliveries

PHRECIPE

Quinoa Almond Berry Salad Serves 2-3 as a main dish
or 4-6 as a side.
Click Here for Full Recipe
PHWEEK
Editor Nicole Price
Content Coordinator Connie F. Smith
Sr. Graphic Designer Ginny Jacobs
Interim Web Developer Jimmy Clanton, Jr.
Editorial & Design Team Tammy Beasley Carrie Gann Eric Jens Nancy Nydam Sandra Roberts Suleima Salgado
Director of Communications Ryan Deal
Georgia Public Health Observances | March 2013

Patient Safety Awareness Week

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Forward email

National Sleep Awareness Week

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Georgia Department of Public Health | 2 Peachtree Street, NW | Atlanta | GA | 30303