This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University, Dr. Volpe confronts our popular denial of growing older and older every day. Dr. Volpe points out that it is never too late to start becoming an active and healthy individual – We just need to face that fact that exercise and eating habits are the best of attaining that.

Dr. Stella Lucia Volpe is Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University. Dr. Volpe is Past-Chair of the United States’ President’s Council for Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. Dr. Volpe is a nutritionist and exercise physiologist who has built a program of research focusing on three interrelated areas that traverse the lifespan: 1) obesity and diabetes prevention via mineral supplementation, 2) weight management through diet, exercise and educational programs, and 3) environmental change leading to weight management. She recently finished conducting a randomized controlled trial on the effect of magnesium supplementation on the prevention of the metabolic syndrome. She has also become interested in studying the effects of the Human-Animal Interaction on weight loss and health in children and older adults. Prior to beginning her faculty appointment at Drexel University, Dr. Volpe was on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, and previous to that, she was on faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Volpe is both a Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist (American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM]), and a Registered Dietitian. She is a Fellow of the ACSM, and a past Vice President of the ACSM.
Dr. Volpe is a competitive athlete in field hockey, rowing and ice hockey. She enjoys being active with her husband, Gary and their German Shepherd dogs, Sasha and Bear.

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