On August 28, 2020, the National Minority Quality Forum hosted a webinar on A Call To Action in Addressing Obesity in Communities of Color: A Closer Look at Existing Disparities that have been Magnified in the Age of COVID-19.

Obesity is a chronic disease that is under-recognized and under-treated. Like many other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity disproportionately impacts minorities--especially African American and Hispanic communities.

A report from the CDC reveals that 78 percent of COVID-19 patients requiring admission to an intensive-care unit had at least one underlying health condition, many of which were obesity-related diseases.

During this webinar, we'll expose the gravity of living with untreated or poorly managed obesity and highlight the disparate impacts the disease has on communities of color.

Panelists:
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford
Obesity Medicine Physician, scientist, educator, and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Nikki Massie
Chair of Obesity Action Coalition's Inclusivity and Diversity Committee and Patient Advocate

Moderator:
Mia Keeys, MA, DrPH(c)
Director of Health Equity Policy & Advocacy,
Center for Health Equity at the American Medical Association

Links:
Dr. Stanford, a clinical and research fellow in obesity medicine and nutrition, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, shares stories of numerous patients who presented with obesity but were struggling with underlying health issues, including two young people who died in their sleep from undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhbUc2kOjeI

As part of the 2017–2018 Epidemics Science Lecture Series at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Fatima Cody Stanford (2:20), a leading expert on obesity, challenges the notion that weight regulation can be determined by a simple equation applied to all persons equally and instead explores the impact of the environment and the role our brains and bodies play in the complex processes: https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/video/obesity-its-more-complex-you-think-fatima-cody-stanford

Obesity Action Coalition: https://www.obesityaction.org/

Facing Overweight and Obesity: A Complete Guide for Children and Adults by Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford: https://www.amazon.com/Facing-Overweight-Obesity-Complete-Children/dp/0999148354/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

*Please note that this is a recorded webinar. If you are experiencing an issue with viewing the video, it might be helpful to change the quality by using the settings (gear icon) located on the bottom right side of the video.