A healthful life approach - Aetna

A healthful life approach African Americans addressing obesity

Aetna 2007African American History Calendar

© 2006 Aetna Inc.

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Obesity is a national epidemic. It is a chronic disease that touches all cultures, age groups, income levels and both genders. It affects almostone-third of the adult U.S. population. It is the second-leading cause of avoidable death in the United States. However, the number of overweight and obese Americans continues to grow.1, 2

Obesity has had an even larger impact on African

Americans. Research shows that 69.6 percent of African

Americans are overweight, with a body mass index (BMI)

greater than 25. Almost 40 percent are obese, with a

BMI greater than 30. About 62.3 percent of Caucasian

Americans are overweight and 28.7 percent are obese.3

A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.4

Beating obesity in the African American community is a

major task. But there are many people working hard each

day to create healthful lifestyles. They are changing policies

and transforming African American communities.

This is why Aetna’s 2007 African American History

Calendar recognizes individuals and organizations dedicated

to addressing obesity among African Americans. The

calendar features inspiring weight-loss stories and research

studies. It includes medical professionals, community and

church-based programs, and school nutrition plans. It

highlights fitness experts and honest conversations.

In this calendar, weight-loss success story Gwen Johnson

tells us, “I did not want to go into retirement with a medicine

cabinet filled with prescription medications.” Author

Teri Mitchell reminds African American women that “if

we continue to put ourselves last, at some point everyone

else will, too.”

The individuals in this year’s calendar will touch your

hearts with messages of hope. They will touch your minds

with real-life tips and examples.

Their work is varied, but these experts all believe in one

central message: change begins with knowledge, one step at a time. We hope that you gain some of this knowledge

through the pages of this calendar and are inspired to

begin your own journey toward better health.

Obesity in America is a serious health issue. About

30 percent of U.S adults over the age of 20 – more

than 60 million people – are considered obese.1 On

average, individuals’ waistlines are getting bigger, and

children are weighing more than ever before. And

there are serious health-related consequences to these

changes. Our lives are touched by a growing number

of weight-related chronic diseases such as diabetes,

heart disease and stroke. For African Americans

especially, obesity-related risks seem greater than ever.

While the challenges may seem overwhelming to

many, there is hope for a brighter future. Plans are

already in place to address obesity among African

Americans. More individuals, companies and

nonprofit organizations are creating initiatives to

address this problem and improve health care

for all people.

Aetna is at the forefront of this health issue. We

supply timely information and useful programs that

help our members take control of their health. Our

programs are tailored to reach different groups of

people and deal with health care concerns in each

community. In this way, we are able to reach out to

our members, both culturally and geographically,

when they need it the most.

Through original programs such as Aetna Healthy Body,

Healthy Weight Program® (www.aetnahealthybody.com),

we promote culturally suitable healthful lifestyles

and help individuals reach weight-management

goals. Because we know that every 500 steps make

a difference, we help our members keep track of

their steps with free pedometers.

Overcoming obesity is a lifestyle change that must

happen in all areas of life – at home, at work and

at play.

Workplaces are becoming more involved. They

now have the tools to offer healthful choices to their

employees such as providing opportunities to exercise

by opening access to stairwells and offering nutritious

food choices in cafeterias.

Individuals can find out their risks for medical

conditions and create their own health action plans

using Aetna’s online tools. Our culturally appropriate

health materials help individuals learn how to better

convey their concerns to their doctors. They can find

the weight-loss, nutrition and fitness resources they

need right in their own communities.

Obesity does not only affect health care and health

care costs. It also affects the quality of life for

individuals, including children and their families.

Understanding how to combat obesity takes time and

determination. By promoting small steps – taken one

at a time – we can connect with individuals when

they are ready to succeed.

At Aetna, we are working toward lowering heart

disease, diabetes, depression and other health

conditions tied to obesity by moving people to take

action. We are grateful for the individuals profiled

in this calendar who have made a difference and are

passionate about helping others overcome African

American obesity.

We hope this calendar will give you and those you

care about most the insight and inspiration to make

a healthful change for a better quality of life.

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight andObesity. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/.Accessed November 28, 2006.

Overcoming obesity is a lifestyle changeBy Tina Brown-StevensonPresident, Aetna Integrated Informatics

A healthful life approach

1 American Obesity Association. What Is Obesity? Available athttp://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/obesity_what2.shtml. Accessed October 23, 2006.2 American Obesity Association. Obesity in the U.S. Available athttp://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/obesity_US.shtml. Accessed October 23, 2006.3 American Obesity Association. Obesity in Minority Populations. Available athttp://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/Obesity_Minority_Pop.shtml. Accessed October 23, 2006.4 Aetna InteliHealth®. What Causes Obesity? Available athttp://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/14220/7100.html. Accessed November 17, 2006.

African American History Calendarwww.aetnaafricanamericancalendar.com

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January2007

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New Year’s Day

1863: Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation

Proclamation.

2005: Former U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm,

first black woman elected to Congress, dies.

1965: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. calls for

nonviolent protests if Alabama blacks are not

allowed to register and vote.

1624: William Tucker, first African child born

in America.

1920: Andrew “Rube” Foster organizes

first black baseball league, the Negro

National League.

1971: The Congressional Black Caucus organized.

1943: George Washington Carver, agricultural

scientist, dies.

1831: The World Anti-Slavery Convention

opens in London.

1890: William B. Purvis patents fountain pen.

1955: Marian Anderson debuts as first black

to perform at Metropolitan Opera.

1811: Charles Deslondes leads slave revolt

in Louisiana.

1866: Fisk University founded in Nashville,

Tennessee.

1864: George Washington Carver, agricultural

scientist and inventor, born.

1940: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. becomes U.S.

Army’s first black general.

1948: Supreme Court rules blacks have right

to study law at state institutions.

1990: L. Douglas Wilder inaugurated as

first African American governor (Virginia)

since Reconstruction.

1975: William T. Coleman named secretary

of transportation.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s

Birthday

1929: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a major

voice for civil rights in the 20th century, born.

1978: NASA names African American

astronauts Maj. Frederick D. Gregory,

Maj. Guion S. Bluford Jr. and

Dr. Ronald E. McNair.

1942: Three-time heavyweight boxing

champion Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) born.

1856: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, pioneer heart

surgeon, born.

1918: John H. Johnson, editor and publisher

of Ebony and Jet magazines, born.

1993: Maya Angelou, a great voice of

contemporary literature, delivers On the Pulse

of Morning at the presidential inauguration.

2001: Colin Powell sworn in as first black

secretary of state.

1870: Hiram Revels elected first black U.S.

senator, replacing Jefferson Davis for the

Mississippi seat.

1949: James Robert Gladden becomes first

black certified in orthopedic surgery.

1891: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founds

Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first

training hospital for black doctors and

nurses in the U.S.

1865: Congress passes 13th Amendment,

which, on ratification, abolishes slavery.

1851: Sojourner Truth addresses first Black

Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio.

1954: Dr. Theodore K. Lawless, dermatologist,

awarded the Spingarn Medal for research in

skin-related diseases.

1961: Leontyne Price, world-renowned opera

singer, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut.

1998: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, first

black female millionaire, honored on U.S.

postage stamp.

1926: Violette Neatly Anderson becomes first

black woman lawyer to argue a case before

the Supreme Court.

1954: Oprah Winfrey, first African American

woman television host, born.

1844: Richard Theodore Greener, first black to

graduate from Harvard, born.

1919: Jackie Robinson, first black to

play in major league baseball, born.

2006: Coretta Scott King, widow of

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who

enshrined his legacy of human rights

and equality, dies.

FACT NO. 1

People who attend Weight Watchers® meetingslose three times more weight than those whotry to lose weight on their own.

The first time Gwen Johnson decided to joina gym, she almost walked away when shegot to the door. All of the people inside werefit and slim. Johnson weighed more than320 pounds.

“I thought, ‘I can’t go in there,’” she said.“But I made myself turn around, and I did it.”

The accumulation of small steps like this onehas helped Johnson lose almost 158 poundsin four years. But her battle with obesity hasbeen a long one.

“I have been chubby since I was a little girl,”said Johnson, who is a realty specialist forthe U.S. Forest Service in Portland, Oregon.

Over the years, Johnson tried to lose weight.She joined and quit the Weight Watchersprogram twice – losing weight only to gainall of it back and more. But something aboutthe Weight Watchers method – which focuseson portion control and physical activity –kept her coming back.

“The first two times I joined WeightWatchers I didn’t think about why I neededto lose weight, I just wanted to lose it,”Johnson said. “Back then, the doctor toldme my weight could affect my health later inlife, but he didn’t go into detail – and I didn’task. I didn’t feel like there was a threat; so Icontinued to eat, and I wasn’t active.”

When Johnson joined the program for thethird time, she felt bad – physically. Her bodyached. Her knees were throbbing as shewalked into the program meeting.

“I finally started to think about the effects – Icould end up with heart disease, diabetes; allthese things that I didn’t think about before,”she said.

The final straw was when Johnson’s doctorput her on blood pressure medication. “I didnot want to go into retirement with a medicinecabinet filled with prescription medications,”she said.

Johnson chipped away at her weight-lossgoal piece by piece. She never thoughtabout how far she had to go; she only toldherself that she would never quit again.

Four years later, Johnson is one of the fit andslim people she first revered at the gym. Nolonger on her blood pressure medication, shefeels like she has regained control over herlife and her future.

“People say to me, ‘Oh, you have so muchwillpower,’” Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s willpower. I just care a lot about myself.While I’m on this earth, I want to feel goodand be healthy.”

“People say to me, ‘Oh, you have so much willpower.‘ I don’tthink it’s willpower. I just care a lot about myself. While I’m onthis earth, I want to feel good and be healthy.”– Gwen Johnson

Gwen JohnsonWeight Watchers® success story

Residence: Vancouver, Washington

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February2007


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1902: Langston Hughes, poet, born. 1915: Biologist Ernest E. Just receives

Spingarn Medal for research in fertilization

and cell division.

1956: Autherine Lucy enrolls as the first

black student at the University of Alabama.

1913: Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who

sparked 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus

boycott, born.

1884: Willis Johnson patents eggbeater.

1934: Hank Aaron, major league home-run

champion, born.

1993: Arthur Ashe Jr., tennis player,

humanitarian and activist, dies.

1883: Ragtime pianist and composer

Eubie Blake born.

1968: Three South Carolina State

students killed during segregation protest

in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

1964: Arthur Ashe Jr. becomes first black

on U.S. Davis Cup team.

1927: Leontyne Price, internationally

acclaimed opera singer, born.

1992: Alex Haley, Pulitzer Prize-winning

author, dies.

1990: Nelson Mandela of South Africa

is released from prison after 27 years.

Lincoln’s Birthday

1909: NAACP founded in New York City.

1970: Joseph L. Searles becomes first African

American member of New York Stock Exchange.

Valentine’s Day

1817: Frederick Douglass, “the Great

Emancipator,” born.

1820: Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist and

women’s rights advocate, born.

1874: Frederick Douglass elected president

of Freedman’s Bank and Trust.

1938: Mary Frances Berry, first woman

to serve as chancellor of a major research

university (University of Colorado), born.

1931: Toni Morrison, winner of 1988 Pulitzer

Prize for her novel Beloved, born.

Presidents’ Day

2002: Vonetta Flowers becomes Winter

Olympics’ first African American gold medalist.

1895: Frederick Douglass, leading voice

in the abolitionist movement, dies.

Ash Wednesday

1965: Malcolm X assassinated in New York.

Washington’s Birthday

1989: Col. Frederick D. Gregory becomes

first African American to command a space

shuttle mission.

1868: W.E.B. DuBois, scholar, activist and

author of The Souls of Black Folk, born.

1864: Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes first

black woman to receive a medical degree

(New England Female Medical College).

1853: First black YMCA organized

in Washington, D.C.

1965: Civil rights activist Jimmie Lee

Jackson dies after being shot by state police

in Marion, Alabama.

1897: Marian Anderson, world-renowned

opera singer and civil rights activist, born.

1984: Michael Jackson, musician and

entertainer, wins eight Grammy Awards.


As a child, Dr. Ann Smith Barnes eagerly went to her grandmother’s houseevery Sunday after church for a fried chicken dinner. “It was a weeklytradition, and I didn’t want her to make anything else,” recalls Barnes.

“There is a pride and cohesiveness within the African American communityregarding food. Family events often center around it,” Barnes said. “Mypatients’ recipes and cooking styles have been handed down generation to generation. Asking them to change their cooking habits is like askingthem to change their ancestry.”

Cultural tastes and portion size are two of the obstacles Barnes has to conquer with her obese African American patients. She hopes to learn how to fix these problems by tracking weight-loss success through theAfrican American Weight Control Registry.

Barnes began her career as a primary care physician at Ben Taub GeneralHospital in Houston. There, she realized many African American patientshad similar health conditions, such as high cholesterol, diabetes and highblood pressure. These conditions were worsened by obesity.

She decided to track the traits of African Americans who successfully lostweight and kept it off. The result: the African American Weight ControlRegistry, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

In 2007, 1,500 to 3,000 African Americans who have lost 10 percent oftheir body weight will be asked to fill out the registry survey. The registrywill compare those who have kept off their weight to those who haveregained weight. The information will help researchers understand long-term weight loss in African American adults.

In the future, Barnes hopes to create culturally tailored programs to helpobese African Americans make healthful lifestyle choices. She also plans to use her research to develop a standard of care for weight managementamong Harris County Hospital district’s low-income and largely minoritypopulation. She is coleader of a multidisciplinary team trying to find ways to address care issues such as area hospitals’ lack of scales that measuremore than 300 pounds.

Fighting obesity is about giving people tools to overcome weight-loss barriers,Barnes believes. “It’s okay to eat differently than when we grew up. Weneed to educate about healthful lifestyle choices. What I enjoy most in mycareer is empowering people to make better choices in their lives,” she said.

Ann Smith Barnes, M.D.Assistant Professor, General Medicine, Ben Taub General Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine

Residence: Houston, Texas

“My patients’ recipes and cooking styles have been handeddown generation to generation. Asking them to change theircooking habits is like asking them to change their ancestry.”– Dr. Ann Smith Barnes

Black History Month

FACT NO. 2

At any time, as many as half ofall Americans are on diets.

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March2007


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1914: Ralph W. Ellison, author and

educator, born.

1867: Congress enacts charter to establish

Howard University.

2006: Prominent blues bass guitarist

Willie Kent dies.

1865: Freedmen’s Bureau established by

federal government to aid newly freed slaves.

1965: Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics

honored as NBA’s most valuable player

for fourth time in five years.

1770: Crispus Attucks becomes one of the

first casualties of the American Revolution.

1857: Supreme Court issues Dred Scott decision. 1965: Supreme Court upholds key provisions

of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

1965: Photographer-filmmaker Gordon Parks,

who captured the struggles and triumphs of

black America, dies.

1977: Henry L. Marsh III becomes first African

American elected mayor of Richmond, Virginia.

1841: Amistad mutineers freed by

Supreme Court.

1869: Robert Tanner Freeman becomes

first black to receive a degree in dentistry.

1913: Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and

Civil War nurse, dies.

Daylight Saving Time Begins

1959: Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

opens at Barrymore Theater, New York; the first

play by a black woman to premiere on Broadway.

1932: Andrew Young, former U.N. ambassador

and former mayor of Atlanta, born.

1773: Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable, black

pioneer and explorer, founded Chicago.

1956: Montgomery, Alabama, bus

boycott ends when municipal bus service

is desegregated.

1947: John Lee, first black commissioned

officer in the U.S. Navy, assigned to duty.

1827: Freedom’s Journal, the first U.S. black

newspaper, is founded.

1846: Rebecca Cole, second black female

physician in the U.S., born.

St. Patrick’s Day

1885: William F. Cosgrove patents automatic

stop plug for gas and oil pipes.

1890: Charles B. Brooks patents street sweeper.

1822: The Phoenix Society, a literary and

educational group, founded by blacks

in New York City.

1971: The Rev. Leon Sullivan elected to board

of directors of General Motors.

1883: Jan E. Matzeliger patents

shoemaking machine.

1965: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads

march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama,

for voting rights.

1898: J.W. Smith patents lawn sprinkler. 1873: Slavery abolished in Puerto Rico. 1907: Nurse and aviator Janet Harmon Bragg

born.

1931: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, journalist,

anti-lynching activist and founding

member of the NAACP, dies.

1872: Thomas J. Martin patents fire extinguisher. 1924: Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan,

“The Divine One,” born.

1870: Jonathan S. Wright becomes first black

state supreme court justice in South Carolina.

1918: Pearl Bailey, singer and actor, born. 1870: Fifteenth Amendment ratified,

guaranteeing voting rights to blacks.

1988: Toni Morrison wins Pulitzer Prize

for Beloved.


National Nutrition Month

While giving a nutrition lecture in theirGreater Orlando, Florida, community, the three founders of Hebni NutritionConsultants (HNC) found themselvesstumped by a question from the audience.

“Where do chitterlings fall on the food pyramid?” a man asked, referring to boiledand highly seasoned pig intestines, a populardish in African American communities.

“We looked at each other and said, ‘Goodquestion!’” said Fabiola Gaines, president of HNC, a nonprofit agency that educateshigh-risk, culturally diverse populations aboutnutrition strategies designed to prevent diet-related diseases. “We realized the USDAfood pyramid does not address many of thepopular foods that African Americans eat.”

The nutritionists decided to create the SoulFood Pyramid, a modification of the standardfood pyramid that is tailored to the AfricanAmerican diet. The guide shows where traditional ethnic foods, or “soul” foods, fall within the food groups.

“Soul food gets a bad rap, but it has manygood nutrition qualities,” said Roniece Weaver,HNC’s executive director. “It’s filled with thewhole grains, fiber and vitamins that comefrom yams, greens and vegetables. It’s theway we buy it, the way we cook it, the waywe prepare it and the amount we eat that’sthe problem.”

The Soul Food Pyramid uses food photographyto easily convey what is included in each foodgroup. It also includes tips on how to judgeportion size using your hands (for example,one cup is the size of your fist); and it dissectsthe parts of a nutrition label to explain howthe information applies to your daily diet.

“People have to feel as if they have ownershipover the pyramid to use it; so our pyramidhas pictures of collard greens, kale, corn andchitterlings,” said Weaver. “People can lookat it and say, ‘Yes, I do eat that, but I didn’tknow I couldn’t eat that every day.’”

Ellareetha Carson, HNC’s community nutritioneducator and secretary, said one of the maingoals of the Soul Food Pyramid is to makepeople aware of what they’re eating.

“People would tell me they ate fresh porkneck bones and rice for dinner, which isessentially a lot of grease on a pile of rice,”she said. “Foods such as chitterlings, pig feetand pig tails are 95 percent fat. We teachpeople that these foods are not meat andexplain to them why they are placed nearthe tip of the Soul Food Pyramid.”

According to Gaines, it’s not about abandoningtraditional foods – it’s about rethinkingfavorite recipes. “I am not going to tell my African American clients to stop eating collard greens and start eating asparagus,”she said. “I’m going to tell them how tomake collard greens more healthful.”

HNC’s Soul Food Pyramid currently is in itsthird edition. It has been embraced by theAmerican Dietetic Association as well as theAmerican Diabetes Association, for whichGaines and Weaver have coauthored fourhealthful soul food cookbooks.

“Soul food is part of our tradition, ourmakeup and our lifestyle; and it’s not goingto go away,” Weaver said. “It just needed a face-lift.”

Fabiola D. Gaines, R.D., L.D.Roniece Weaver, M.S., R.D., L.D.Ellareetha T. Carson, R.D., L.D.Founders, Hebni Nutrition Consultants, Inc.

Residences: Lake Mary, Windermere and Casselberry, Florida (respectively)

“Soul food is part of our tradition, our makeup and our lifestyle;and it’s not going to go away. It just needed a face-lift.”– Roniece Weaver

FACT NO. 3

The Soul Food Pyramid explains where traditionalethnic foods, or “soul foods,” fall on the foodpyramid. It shows that 3 ounces of chitterlingshave 258 calories and 24 grams of fat.

Pictured left to right: Ellareetha Carson,Fabiola Gaines, Roniece Weaver

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April2007


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Palm Sunday

1950: Blood research pioneer

Charles R. Drew dies.

1989: Bill White elected president

of the National Baseball League.

Passover Begins (sundown)

1984: Georgetown coach John Thompson

becomes first African American coach to

win the NCAA basketball tournament.

1826: Poet-orator James Madison Bell, author

of the Emancipation Day poem “The Day

and the War,” born.

1990: Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer known

as “The Divine One,” dies.

1968: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

1951: Washington, D.C., Municipal Court of

Appeals outlaws segregation in restaurants.

Good Friday

1909: Matthew A. Henson reaches North

Pole, 45 minutes before Robert E. Peary.

1915: Jazz and blues legend Billie Holiday born.

1959: Lorraine Hansberry becomes first black

playwright to win New York Drama Critics

Award (for A Raisin in the Sun).

Easter

1974: Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron hits

715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth

as the game’s all-time home-run leader.

1898: Paul Robeson, actor, singer, activist, born. 1943: Arthur Ashe, first black to win the U.S.

Open and men’s singles title at Wimbledon, born.

1947: Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson

becomes first black to play major league baseball.

1899: Percy Julian, developer of physostigmine

and synthetic cortisone, born.

1966: Emmett Ashford becomes first black

umpire in the major leagues.

1983: Harold Washington becomes first

African American elected mayor of Chicago.

1950: Historian Carter G. Woodson, author

of The Miseducation of the Negro, dies.

1997: Tiger Woods wins Masters Golf

Tournament.

1775: First abolitionist society in U.S. founded

in Philadelphia.

1964: Sidney Poitier becomes first black

to win Academy Award for Best Actor

for Lilies of the Field.

1862: Slavery abolished in the District

of Columbia.

1983: Alice Walker wins Pulitzer Prize for

fiction for The Color Purple.

1990: Ralph David Abernathy, civil rights

leader, dies.

1995: Margo Jefferson receives Pulitzer Prize

for criticism.

1972: Stationed in Germany, Major Gen.

Frederic E. Davidson becomes first African

American to lead an Army division.

1894: Dr. Lloyd A. Hall, pioneering food

chemist, born.

1966: Pfc. Milton L. Olive III awarded

posthumously the Medal of Honor for valor

in Vietnam.

1922: Jazz bassist and composer

Charles Mingus born.

1856: Granville T. Woods, inventor of the

steam boiler and automobile air brakes, born.

1872: Charlotte E. Ray is first black woman

admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

1944: United Negro College Fund incorporated. Administrative Professionals Day

1918: Ella Fitzgerald, “First Lady of Song,” born.

1888: Sarah Boone patents ironing board. 1945: August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning

playwright, born.

1968: Dr. Vincent Porter becomes first black

certified in plastic surgery.

1839: Cinque leads Amistad mutiny off

the coast of Long Island, New York.

1899: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington,

jazz musician and composer, born.

1952: Dr. Louis T. Wright honored by

American Cancer Society for his contributions

to cancer research.


When it comes to four-letter words, there isclearly one that Robert Ferguson believes is taboo — DIET.

“Diets don’t work. Healthful living andlifestyle changes work,” said the author ofConquering the Munchie Monster. “What so many look for is a quick fix; but at theend of the day, they are less than successfulbecause they don’t believe they can be successful.”

Ferguson, who owns the company Diet FreeLife, has been helping people achieve weightloss through healthful living since 1998. Aformer U.S. Marine, he works with both thegeneral population and celebrities. He also isa physical conditioning and nutrition specialistfor professional boxers on Showtime®, HBO®,ESPN® and DreamWorks’ “The Contender.”

One of Ferguson’s goals is to bridge the gap within the African American communitybetween knowing what is healthful andpracticing what is known. He conducts free live cooking demonstrations and fitnessprograms, and delivers motivational speechesin urban areas across the country.

Ferguson teaches people how to make their favorite recipes more healthful, and heshows his clients how to incorporate goodhealth into their existing lifestyles with dietand fitness plans customized to meet eachperson’s needs.

“There is a misconception that healthful living is boring, bland and difficult to maintain.But it really can be enjoyable, fun and easy,”he said.

“Many people who want to be healthy feellike they have to walk away from their cultural identities,” he added. “They have anall-or-nothing mindset: either eat bland andboring – steamed broccoli and salmon – orgo back to eating fried chicken every day.”

Friends and family often are the biggeststumbling blocks to living a healthfullifestyle. “There’s an internal battle betweenbeing healthy and being accepted,” Fergusonsaid. “People are always thinking about whatthey’ll lose by upgrading their lifestyle withnutrition and fitness. When people start toeat healthfully, and all their friends and family continue to eat unhealthfully, they feel like they stand out.”

But Ferguson believes that when healthfulefforts are viewed as a lifestyle change ratherthan as a diet, individuals will become self-reliant and empowered – and thereforeexperience long-term success. They also willset positive examples for those closest to them.

“I want to open eyes and minds to show thatlife can be lived and experienced differentlywithout the word DIET,” Ferguson said.

“There is a misconception that healthful living is boring,bland and difficult to maintain. But it really can be enjoyable, fun and easy.”– Robert Ferguson

Robert Ferguson, M.S., C.N.Author, wellness and weight-loss expert, and physical conditioning specialist

Residence: Ventura, California

FACT NO. 4

Try to set aside time for exercise each day, andinclude the three main components of exercise inyour weekly routine: resistance training (strengthtraining), aerobic activity and stretching exercises.

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May2007


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1867: First four students enter Howard University.

1998: Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther,

author, dies.

1844: Inventor Elijah McCoy, “the real McCoy,”

born.

1995: Shirley Jackson assumes chairmanship

of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

1964: Frederick O’Neal becomes first black

president of Actors’ Equity Association.

1961: Freedom Riders begin protesting

segregation of interstate bus travel in

the South.

1950: Gwendolyn Brooks becomes first black to

win a Pulitzer Prize in poetry for “Annie Allen.”

1988: Eugene Antonio Marino installed as first

U.S. African American Roman Catholic archbishop.

1812: Physician, author, explorer Martin R.

Delaney, first black officer in Civil War, born.

1991: Smithsonian Institution approves creation

of the National African American Museum.

1845: Mary Eliza Mahoney, America’s

first black trained nurse, born.

1878: Joseph R. Winters patents first fire

escape ladder.

1983: Lena Horne awarded Spingarn Medal

for distinguished career in entertainment.

1899: John Albert Burr patents lawn mower. 1950: Boston Celtics select Chuck Cooper,

first black player drafted to play in NBA.

1895: Composer William Grant Still, first black

to conduct a major American symphony

orchestra, born.

2006: Former heavyweight boxing champion

Floyd Patterson dies.

1862: Black slaves commandeer the

Confederate ship “The Planter.”

Mother’s Day

1872: Matilda Arabella Evans, first black woman

to practice medicine in South Carolina, born.

1913: Clara Stanton Jones, first black president

of the American Library Association, born.

1820: Congress declares foreign slave trade

an act of piracy, punishable by death.

1927: Dr. William Harry Barnes becomes

first black certified by a surgical board.

1990: Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. dies.

1954: Supreme Court declares segregation

in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v.

Board of Education.

1896: In Plessy v. Ferguson, Supreme Court

upholds doctrine of “separate but equal”

education and public accommodations.

Armed Forces Day

1925: Malcolm X born Malcolm Little

in Omaha, Nebraska.

1993: University of Virginia professor

Rita Dove appointed U.S. Poet Laureate.

1961: U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy

dispatches U.S. marshals to Montgomery,

Alabama, to restore order in the Freedom

Rider crisis.

1833: Blacks enroll for the first time

at Oberlin College, Ohio.

2006: Katherine Dunham, pioneering

dancer and choreographer, author and

civil rights activist, dies.

1921: Shuffle Along, a musical featuring

a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle,

opens on Broadway.

1900: Sgt. William H. Carney becomes first black

awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

1854: Lincoln University (Pa.), first black

college, founded.

1926: Jazz trumpeter Miles Dewey Davis born. 1961: During Kennedy administration, Marvin

Cook named ambassador to Niger Republic, the

first black envoy named to an African nation.

1919: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, cosmetics

manufacturer and first black female millionaire,

dies.

1942: Dorie Miller, a ship‘s steward, awarded

Navy Cross for heroism during the attack on

Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Memorial Day Observed

1948: National Party wins whites-only

elections in South Africa and begins

to institute policy of apartheid.

1901: Granville T. Woods patents overhead

conducting system for the electric railway.

1973: Tom Bradley becomes first black

mayor of Los Angeles.

1965: Vivian Malone becomes first black

to graduate from the University of Alabama.

1870: Congress passes the first Enforcement

Act, providing stiff penalties for those who

deprive others of civil rights.


National Physical Fitnessand Sports Month

As anyone with a sibling knows, no one willtell it to you as straight as your sister or brother.So when it comes to confronting a serioustopic such as obesity, there’s nothing likelearning the facts from a conversationbetween two sisters.

Dr. Stacy Ann Mitchell and her sister, TeriMitchell, a journalist, lawyer and televisionproducer; have been having such a conversationfor years. While Stacy grew up naturally talland thin, Teri has always been a little heavier.

“I wouldn’t say I was always struggling withmy weight, but I was never skinny,” Teri said.“Stacy was always saying to me, ‘You needto exercise; you’re gaining too much weight.’”

“We knew we couldn’t be the only sistershaving these conversations and concerns. So we decided to put it all down on paper,”said Stacy.

They documented their conversations in thebook Livin’ Large – African American SistersConfront Obesity. The book is written as adialogue between the two sisters, with Stacyreporting the medical facts and Teri givingthese facts a real-life perspective. The sisterstake readers on a journey of self-discoveryand give them the information they need to make educated health decisions.

“I’ve learned a lot from my sister,” Teri said.“I learned that being overweight isn’t aboutaesthetics. Many African American men like

women with some meat on them, so manywomen who are technically overweight arethinking, ‘I’m fine! My shape is cute, guysare hollering at me – I look better than askinny girl!’”

What many women don’t realize, said Teri, is that you can look good and still be over-weight. “Overweight and obese are medicalterms,” she said. “People at a certain bodymass index are more prone to certain diseases – high blood pressure, stress ontheir joints, diabetes. It also can causedepression and affect self-esteem. Womenneed to learn that they can have curves, but they also need to be healthy.”

“Women can get so much power from takingcontrol of their lives and being healthy,” saidStacy. “Once you lose weight, you have moreenergy, your mood improves, and you’remore productive. When you’re healthy,you’re better able to keep up with children,husbands, work, school – all the demands ofa busy life. And there’s no greater gift to yourfamily and your community than being thereand being at your absolute best.”

Teri agrees. “With black women, the focusisn’t on ourselves. We love out, as opposedto loving in,” she said. “If we don’t valueourselves, then we’re not going to take thetime to take care of ourselves. If we continueto put ourselves last, at some point everyoneelse will, too.”

Stacy Ann Mitchell, M.D. Teri Mitchell, J.D., M.A.Authors, Livin’ Large – African American Sisters Confront Obesity

Residences: Los Angeles, California; and Chicago, Illinois (respectively)

“Women can get so much power from takingcontrol of their lives and being healthy.”– Dr. Stacy Ann Mitchell

FACT NO. 5

BMI = Weight (lbs) / Height (in)2 x 704.5A BMI of 30 or more is considered obese, and aBMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.

Pictured: Teri Mitchell, standing; Stacy Ann Mitchell, seated

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1968: Henry Lewis becomes first black musical

director of an American symphony orchestra

– New Jersey Symphony.

1971: Samuel L. Gravely Jr. becomes first

African American admiral in U.S. Navy.

1890: L.H. Jones patents corn harvester.

1904: Charles R. Drew, who developed

process for preserving blood plasma, born.

1967: Bill Cosby receives an Emmy Award

for his work in the television series I Spy.

1972: Activist Angela Davis acquitted

of all murder and conspiracy charges.

1987: Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first

African American woman astronaut.

1831: First annual People of Color convention

held in Philadelphia.

1917: Poetess Gwendolyn Brooks, first black

to win the Pulitzer Prize (poetry, 1950), born.

1953: Supreme Court ruling bans discrimination

in Washington, D.C., restaurants.

1962: W.W. Braithwaite, poet, anthologist

and literary critic, dies in New York City.

1995: Lincoln J. Ragsdale, pioneer fighter

pilot of World War II, dies.

1854: James Augustine Healy, first black

Roman Catholic bishop, ordained a priest

in Notre Dame Cathedral.

1964: Nelson Mandela sentenced to life

imprisonment by South African government.

1963: Medgar W. Evers, civil rights leader,

assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi.

1967: Thurgood Marshall nominated to

Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson.

Flag Day

1864: Congress rules equal pay for all soldiers.

1927: George Washington Carver patents

process of producing paints and stains.

1913: Dr. Effie O’Neal Ellis, first black woman

to hold an executive position in the American

Medical Association, born.

1970: Kenneth A. Gibson elected mayor of

Newark, New Jersey, first African American

mayor of a major Eastern city.

Father’s Day

1775: Minuteman Peter Salem fights

in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

1942: Harvard University medical student

Bernard Whitfield Robinson commissioned

as the Navy’s first black officer.

1865: Blacks in Texas are notified of

Emancipation Proclamation, issued

in 1863. “Juneteenth” marks the event.

1953: Albert W. Dent of Dillard University elected

president of the National Health Council.

1945: Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first

black to command an Army Air Corps base.

1897: William Barry patents postmarking

and cancelling machine.

1940: Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, winner of three

gold medals at 1960 Summer Olympics, born.

1964: Carl T. Rowan appointed director

of the United States Information Agency.

1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt issues executive

order establishing Fair Employment Practices

Commission.

1975: Dr. Samuel Blanton Rosser becomes first

African American certified in pediatric surgery.

1991: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood

Marshall announces his retirement.

1864: Fugitive slave laws repealed by Congress.

1911: Samuel J. Battle becomes first black

policeman in New York City.

1886: Photographer James Van Der Zee born.

2006: Lloyd Richards, theater pioneer and

Tony award winner for direction of Fences,

dies on his 87th birthday.

1921: Charles S. Gilpin awarded Spingarn

Medal for his performance in Eugene O’Neill’s

Emperor Jones.


Mark Johnson knows that the fight againstobesity takes an entire community. That’swhy in Lexington, Kentucky, he is bringingtogether a community of African Americansisters and brothers to change eating andexercise habits.

As the health equity team leader of theLexington-Fayette County Health Department,Johnson looks for innovative ways to providetimely health information to those who needit the most. So in 2004 when he first learnedabout the Sisters Together: Move More, EatBetter program, he was eager to bring it tohis community.

Sisters Together is designed to encourageAfrican American women to maintain ahealthful weight by being more physicallyactive and eating more healthful foods. It is an initiative of the National Institute ofDiabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases,and the National Institutes of Health throughthe Weight-Control Information Network.

“The program is all about forming relationshipswith and between African American women,”Johnson said. “Women are usually seen asheads of the household, so if we can getthem on board, we can get their families on board.”

Johnson’s department implemented the program by creating low- and no-cost community aerobics classes. It also producedhealth marketing materials such as churchfans, flyers, newspaper articles and segments

for local television shows. The program culminated with a health conference at theConsolidated Baptist Church, attended bynearly 100 African American women.

The Sisters Together program received ravereviews; so Johnson recently created theBrothers Together Health Program, modifyingthe original program to fit the needs of theAfrican American men in his community. Hisgoal: to help make men more accountablefor their health.

“Most men leave meal preparation to theirsignificant others. They have little or noinput, and they eat only what is in front ofthem,” he said. “Men also are uncomfortablewith changing tradition. We need to teachthem that they don’t have to change everything; they just need to make somemodifications.”

Johnson hopes to kick off his BrothersTogether program with a men’s health conference during National Men’s HealthWeek, which is June 11–17. With many localmen’s groups already interested, Johnson isteaming up with some of the community’sprogressive ministers to develop the program’scomponents. His goal is to get 200 men toparticipate in the first conference.

“Men tend to neglect their health, just aswomen do,” Johnson said. “If we can getmen to come together and take an activerole in their health, we can change lives.”

“Men also are uncomfortable with changing tradition. We needto teach them that they don’t have to change everything; theyjust need to make some modifications.”– Mark Johnson

Mark A. Johnson, M.S.S.W., B.S.W.Health Equity Team Leader, Lexington-Fayette County Health DepartmentCoordinator, Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better; and Brothers TogetherHealth Program

Residence: Lexington, Kentucky

FACT NO. 6

69.1 percent of non-Hispanic blackmen are overweight or obese.

National Men‘s Health WeekJune 11-17

Pictured: Mark Johnson speaking at a meeting for the Brothers Together Health Program

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29 30 31

1889: Frederick Douglass named U.S.

Minister to Haiti.

1872: Elijah McCoy patents first self-lubricating

locomotive engine. The quality of his inventions

helped coin the phrase “the real McCoy.”

1688: The Quakers in Germantown,

Pennsylvania, make first formal protest

against slavery.

Independence Day

1900: Traditional birthdate of Louis

“Satchmo” Armstrong, jazz pioneer.

1892: Andrew J. Beard patents rotary engine.

1991: Nelson Mandela elected president of

the African National Congress.

1957: Althea Gibson wins women’s singles

title at Wimbledon, first black to win tennis’s

most prestigious award.

1948: Cleveland Indians sign pitcher

Leroy “Satchel” Paige.

1943: Faye Wattleton, first black director

of Planned Parenthood, born.

2000: Venus Williams wins women’s singles

championship at Wimbledon.

1893: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs

first successful open-heart operation.

1875: Educator Mary McLeod Bethune,

founder of Bethune-Cookman College, born.

1905: W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe

Trotter organize the Niagara Movement,

a forerunner of the NAACP.

1937: Actor, comedian Bill Cosby born.

1949: Frederick M. Jones patents cooling

system for food transportation vehicles.

1965: Thurgood Marshall becomes first black

appointed U.S. solicitor general.

1951: George Washington Carver Monument,

first national park honoring a black, is dedicated

in Joplin, Missouri.

1867: Maggie Lena Walker, first woman and

first black to become president of a bank, born.

1822: Violette A. Johnson, first black woman

to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, born.

1862: Anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells-

Barnett born.

1959: Singer Billie Holiday dies. 1899: L.C. Bailey issued patent for the folding bed.

1998: African American Civil War Soldiers

Memorial dedicated, Washington, D.C.

1925: Paris debut of Josephine Baker,

entertainer, activist and humanitarian.

1950: Black troops (24th Regiment) win first

U.S. victory in Korea.

1896: Mary Church Terrell elected first

president of National Association of

Colored Women.

1939: Jane M. Bolin of New York City

appointed first black female judge.

1962: Jackie Robinson becomes first black

baseball player in the major leagues inducted

into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

1807: Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge born

in New York City.

1916: Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas

mask, rescues six people from gas-filled

tunnel in Cleveland, Ohio.

1948: President Harry S. Truman issues

Executive Order 9981, ending segregation

in armed forces.

1880: Alexander P. Ashbourne patents

process for refining coconut oil.

1868: 14th Amendment, granting blacks

full citizenship rights, becomes part of

the Constitution.

1895: First National Conference of Colored

Women Convention held in Boston.

1822: James Varick becomes first bishop of

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

1874: Rev. Patrick Francis Healy inaugurated

president of Georgetown University,

Washington, D.C.


“There are not many scholars of color in obesity research. I thinkit’s really important for the black community to have people inacademic institutions who are seen as experts.”– Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika

FACT NO. 7

A healthful diet provides all the nutrients you need, andenough calories — typically 1,200 to 1,800 daily — tominimize hunger and maintain your energy level.

Research that motivates change is what keeps Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika inspired each day. Her lifelonggoal is to reduce health care disparities affecting African American communities, especially as theyrelate to obesity and weight management.

As a professor of epidemiology in biostatistics and epidemiology and in pediatrics at the Universityof Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Kumanyika researches the effects dietary change and weightmanagement have on chronic diseases. Her recent studies and clinical trials focus on preventing or treating obesity among African Americans in clinical or community-based settings.

“I became interested in obesity and nutrition because this is something people can modify to helptheir health,” Kumanyika said. “Nutrition affects everyone, so it’s a way for me to reach the wholepopulation. The research I do will, hopefully, make a difference in how many people develop diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses.”

Kumanyika also has been involved in many clinical trials on the impact of other dietary changessuch as sodium reduction, and she is now completing a weight-control study that is exploring thelong-term effect a support system has on a person’s ability to lose weight and keep it off. Shesoon will begin a study to evaluate a feasible weight-loss program model for primary care physicianswho serve African American and Latino communities to use with their patients.

“Over the last 20 years, I have been able to create new ways of thinking about African Americannutrition and how to address obesity,” she said. “There are not many scholars of color in obesityresearch. I think it’s really important for the black community to have people in academic institutions who are seen as experts.”

To ensure her legacy of health promotion research and policy change continues, Kumanyika makes it a priority to mentor young African American scientists, researchers and health advocates.

“I work to keep others motivated to change the world for the better through research. Researchcreates new knowledge or helps us to put the knowledge we have to work in the real world,” she said.

Kumanyika also has created the African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network, agroup of scholars, researchers in training and community partners dedicated to addressingAfrican American weight, nutrition and physical activity issues in a culturally sensitive and community-responsive manner.

“My efforts alone will not change African American health statistics, but I will feel as if I have madea difference when the proportion of adults who are overweight is lower and fewer children areoverweight,” Kumanyika said. “I want my efforts to contribute to the broader effort to improvethe health profiles in our communities.”

Shiriki K. Kumanyika, Ph.D., M.P.H. Professor of Epidemiology, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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1879: Mary Eliza Mahoney graduates

from New England Hospital for Women

and Children, becoming the first black

professional nurse in America.

1924: James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It

on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time and

Another Country, born.

1800: Gabriel Prosser leads slave revolt

in Richmond, Virginia.

1810: Abolitionist Robert Purvis born.

1962: Nelson Mandela, South African

freedom fighter, imprisoned. He was

not released until 1990.

1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs

Voting Rights Act, outlawing literacy test

for voting eligibility in the South.

1907: Ralph Bunche, first African American

Nobel prize winner, born.

1989: Congressman Mickey Leland dies

in plane crash during a humanitarian

mission to Ethiopia.

2005: John H. Johnson, founder and publisher

of Ebony and Jet magazines, dies.

1936: Jesse Owens wins fourth gold medal

at Summer Olympics in Berlin.

1989: Gen. Colin Powell is nominated

chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first

African American to hold this post.

1872: Solomon Carter Fuller, acknowledged

as first black psychiatrist, born.

1921: Alex Haley, author of Roots, born.

1977: Steven Biko, leader of Black Consciousness

Movement in South Africa, arrested.

1981: Reagan administration undertakes its

review of 30 federal regulations, including

rules on civil rights to prevent job discrimination.

1989: First National Black Theater Festival

held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1888: Granville T. Woods patents

electromechanical brake.

1922: Author Louis E. Lomax born. 1849: Lawyer-activist Archibald Henry Grimké,

who challenged segregationist policies of

President Woodrow Wilson, born.

1859: Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig is first

novel published by a black writer.

1954: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche named

undersecretary of United Nations.

1993: Dr. David Satcher named director

of the Centers for Disease Control.

1904: Bandleader and composer

William “Count” Basie born.

1880: Cartoonist George Herriman born. 1926: Carter Woodson, historian, author,

inaugurates Negro History Week.

1950: Judge Edith Sampson named first black

delegate to United Nations.

1925: A. Phillip Randolph founds Brotherhood

of Sleeping Car Porters.

1946: Composer, singer and producer

Valerie Simpson Ashford born.

1935: Mary McLeod Bethune founds

National Council of Negro Women.

1963: W.E.B. DuBois, scholar, civil rights

activist and founding father of the NAACP, dies.

1963: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers

“I Have A Dream” speech during March

on Washington, D.C.

1920: Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker born. 1983: Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes

the first African American astronaut in space.

1836: Henry Blair patents cotton planter.


FACT NO. 8

African Americans and Caucasians report that theyexercise less as they get older; however, AfricanAmerican women of all ages report participatingin less regular exercise than Caucasian women.

“We looked at the health disparities and concerns of the BET audience, and obesity was among the primary issues we wanted to address.” – Lynda Dorman

Behind the successful media business andcable television programming millions ofviewers see every day on Black EntertainmentTelevision (BET) Networks lies the BETFoundation, a nonprofit organization foundedin 2003 to promote healthy lifestyles amongAfrican Americans and raise awarenessabout minority health disparities.

“We looked at the health disparities andconcerns of the BET audience, and obesitywas among the primary issues we wanted to address,” said Lynda Dorman, theFoundation’s executive director.

The BET Foundation primarily targetsAfrican American women, hoping that theywill share with their families what theylearn. Each year the BET Foundation runs a variety of programs and initiatives under its umbrella campaign, A Healthy BET, a multitiered health promotions campaignand outreach effort aimed at erasing AfricanAmerican obesity.

Its programs include A Healthy BET FitnessChallenge, a national 12-week fitness contest that partners selected participantswith nutrition and fitness experts, andrewards those who achieve healthful lifestylegoals with an array of great prize incentives.

The BET Foundation also hosts the Women’sHealth Forum, a free health promotion eventfocused on three program principles: EatingBetter, Moving More and Positive Thinking.

The forum includes expert instruction, a master fitness class, free health screenings,panel discussions, workshops that address a variety of health concerns, a healthful luncheon and top entertainment.

Another BET Foundation program is theSummer Camp for Girls, a residential campprogram designed to educate and empowergirls ages 10-15 to adopt healthful lifestylechoices by learning the importance of propernutrition, exercise and positive body imagethrough a health-related curriculum.

Since its inception, the BET Foundation hastouched the lives of millions of AfricanAmericans.

“I met one woman who was trying to gainweight to qualify for gastric bypass surgery.We selected her for the Fitness Challenge,”said Dorman. “During the challenge, shebegan a personalized program that includedproper nutrition, regular exercise and settinghealthy lifestyle goals. She lost 33 pounds in four months and gained a new perspectiveon what it means to live a healthy life fromthe inside out.

“The BET Foundation has many success stories,and we will continue efforts to eradicateobesity and related health disparities by collaborating with BET Networks and community groups to deliver a healthylifestyles message,” said Dorman.

Lynda M. DormanExecutive Director, BET Foundation

Residence: Silver Spring, Maryland

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30

1993: Condoleeza Rice named provost at

Stanford University, becoming the youngest

person and first black to hold this position.

1958: Frederick M. Jones patents control

device for internal combustion engine.

Labor Day

1979: Robert Maynard becomes first African

American to head a major daily newspaper,

Oakland Tribune in California.

1957: Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus calls

out the National Guard to bar black students

from entering a Little Rock high school.

1960: Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet and

politician, elected president of Senegal.

1848: Frederick Douglass elected president

of National Black Political Convention in

Cleveland, Ohio.

1954: Washington, D.C., and Baltimore,

Maryland, public schools integrated.

1981: Roy Wilkins, executive director

of the NAACP, dies.

2001: Venus Williams defeats sister Serena

Williams in women’s finals at U.S. Open.

1968: Arthur Ashe Jr. wins men‘s singles tennis

championship at U.S. Open.

2000: Venus Williams wins women‘s singles

tennis championship at U.S. Open.

1855: John Mercer Langston elected township

clerk of Brownhelm, Ohio, becoming first

black to hold elective office in the U.S.

1959: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington wins

Spingarn Medal for his achievements in music.

1999: Serena Williams wins women‘s singles

tennis championship at U.S. Open.

Rosh Hashanah Begins (sundown)

1913: Track and field star Jesse Owens born.

1992: Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first

African American woman to travel in space.

1886: Literary critic Alain Lovke, first black

Rhodes scholar, born.

1921: Constance Baker Motley, first black

woman appointed federal judge, born.

1963: Four black girls killed in Birmingham,

Alabama, church bombing.

1923: First Catholic seminary for black priests

dedicated in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

1983: Vanessa Williams becomes first African

American crowned Miss America.

1895: Booker T. Washington delivers famous

Atlanta Exposition speech.

1893: Albert R. Robinson patents electric

railway trolley.

1830: First National Convention of Free Men

agrees to boycott slave-produced goods.

Yom Kippur Begins (sundown)

1815: Gen. Andrew Jackson honors courage

of black troops who fought in Battle of

New Orleans.

1998: Florence Griffith Joyner, Olympic track

star, dies.

1862: Emancipation Proclamation announced.

1989: Gen. Colin Powell is confirmed as

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, first African

American to hold the post.

1863: Civil and women’s rights advocate

Mary Church Terrell born.

1957: Federal troops enforce court-ordered

integrations as nine children integrate Central

High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

2006: Influential blues guitarist

Etta Baker dies.

1974: Barbara W. Hancock becomes first

African American woman named a White

House fellow.

1962: Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson

to win heavyweight boxing championship.

2000: Venus Williams wins an Olympic gold

medal in women‘s singles tennis.

1991: National Civil Rights Museum opens

in Memphis, Tennessee.

2000: Venus and Serena Williams win Olympic

gold medals in women’s pairs tennis.

2003: Althea Gibson, first African American

tennis player to win Wimbledon, dies.

1910: National Urban League established

in New York City.

1962: James Meredith enrolls as first

black student at University of Mississippi.


How do you make nutritious school food funand appealing to children who walk past amenagerie of fast food restaurants on theirway to and from school every day?

That’s the question that Herman McKie isfaced with as nutrition coordinator for theNew York City Department of Education’sOffice of SchoolFood. McKie is responsiblefor developing and upholding the school system’s comprehensive nutritional standards,which are now stricter than USDA standards.

“We only have these students in our cafeteriasfor one or two meals per day, so we try tosurpass government recommendations,”McKie said.

The standards McKie helped put in placerequire all school menus to be free of partiallyhydrogenated oils, and low in fat and sodiumcontent; with an emphasis on whole wheat,fish- and plant-based proteins, and fresh orfrozen fruits and vegetables.

“It’s hard because we could have the most healthful food in the neighborhood, butthe food experiences kids have at home shape their personal choices,” McKie said.

McKie combats this problem with educationaloutreach as well as nutritional changes. Aspart of the SchoolFood Partnership Initiative,he creates nutrition lessons and materialsthat teach students and administrators how to read the food guide pyramid, theimportance of hand washing, how to makehealthful snacks and other essential skills.

“I think the current problems stem from alack of information,” McKie said. “Nutritionis not a school subject like math or science,so it’s important for us to provide childrenwith the information they need to makehealthful choices.”

Another obstacle McKie is trying to overcomeis the negative view many people have of“institutionalized feeding programs.”

“Some kids think school lunch is governmentfood for the poor. There’s a lot of peer pressure,” said McKie. “We have kids in ourschools who quickly eat their food at thecounter because they are afraid of beingridiculed in the cafeteria.”

McKie and SchoolFood try to make schoolfood more acceptable and appealing by servingitems that look like something a child wouldpurchase from a fast-food restaurant.

“We’ve created a low-fat, low-sodium pizzaand a more healthful Jamaican beef patty.We even piloted a 100 percent fruit juice‘slushee’ drink with no artificial colors or flavoring,” McKie said. “Kids aren’t going to eat something unless it’s something theycan identify.”

Although there is a long way to go in thefight against childhood obesity, McKie ispleased with the progress. “If I see a child tryour new, more healthful chicken patty andlike it, that’s rewarding to me,” he said. “Imake small gains where I can.”

Herman McKie, M.S., R.D.Nutrition CoordinatorNew York City Department of Education, Office of SchoolFood

Residence: Brooklyn, New York

“Nutrition is not a school subject like math or science, so it’s important for us to provide children with the information they need to make healthful choices.”– Herman McKie

FACT NO. 9

Only 2 percent of school-age children eat the recommended minimum number of servings for allfive major food groups in the food guide pyramid.

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1996: Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard becomes first

black to head the Army Corps of Engineers.

2000: James Perkins Jr. sworn in as Selma,

Alabama’s, first African American mayor.

2005: August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning

playwright, dies.

1956: Nat “King” Cole becomes first black

performer to host his own TV show.

1864: First black daily newspaper,

The New Orleans Tribune, founded.

1872: Booker T. Washington enters

Hampton Institute, Virginia.

1917: Political activist Fannie Lou Hamer born.

1934: Playwright-poet Amiri Baraka

(LeRoi Jones) born.

1993: Toni Morrison becomes the first African

American to win the Nobel Prize in literature.

Columbus Day Observed

1941: Rev. Jesse Jackson, political activist

and civil rights leader, born.

1888: O.B. Clare patents trestle.

2001: Dr. Ruth Simmons, first African

American leader of an Ivy League institution,

elected 18th president of Brown University.

1899: Isaac R. Johnson patents bicycle frame. 1887: Granville T. Woods patents telephone

system and apparatus.

1887: Alexander Miles patents elevator.

1904: Physician and scholar

W. Montague Cobb born.

2005: C. Delores Tucker, civil rights activist and

founder of the National Black Congress, dies.

1579: Martin de Porres, first black saint

in the Roman Catholic church, born.

1876: Meharry Medical College founded,

established as the Meharry Medical

Department of Central Tennessee College.

1964: At age 35, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr. becomes youngest man to win

Nobel Peace Prize.

1991: Clarence Thomas confirmed as an

associate justice of U.S. Supreme Court.

1984: Bishop Desmond Tutu wins Nobel

Peace Prize.

1995: The Million Man March for “A Day of

Atonement” takes place in Washington, D.C.

1888: Capital Savings Bank of Washington,

D.C., first bank for blacks, organized.

1948: Playwright Ntozake Shange, author

of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered

Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf, born.

1943: Paul Robeson opens in Othello at

the Shubert Theater in New York City.

1898: The first black-owned insurance

company, North Carolina Mutual Life

Insurance Co., founded.

1917: Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie,

pioneer of bebop, born.

1953: Clarence S. Green becomes first

black certified in neurological surgery.

1947: NAACP petitions United Nations

on racial conditions in the U.S.

United Nations Day

1980: Judge Patrick Higginbotham finds

Republic National guilty in discrimination case.

2005: Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who

sparked 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, dies.

1992: Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston

becomes first African American to manage

a team to a World Series title.

1911: Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, born. 1891: D.B. Downing, inventor, is awarded

a patent for the street letter box.

1954: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first

black general in U.S. Air Force.

1981: Edward M. McIntyre elected first

African American mayor of Augusta, Georgia.

1998: President Bill Clinton declares HIV/AIDS

a health crisis in racial minority communities.

1949: Alonzo G. Moron becomes first black

president of Hampton Institute, Virginia.

1979: Richard Arrington elected first African

American mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.

Halloween

1896: Actress, singer Ethel Waters born.

1899: William F. Burr patents switching

device for railways.


Dr. Reginald Washington believes that when it comes to growing up healthy– both mentally and physically – having a positive role model makes a worldof difference.

“Children follow the example of their parents, their peers and what isshown to them in the media. A lot of children need positive role modelswhen they’re young, especially those who think they already have all theanswers,” said Washington.

Washington is a clinical professor of pediatric cardiology at the University ofColorado Medical Center and medical director of Rocky Mountain PediatrixCardiology. There, he works as a role model to his patients and their families.His practice offers nutritional advice and assesses blood work. It monitorsmedications and offers counseling. If necessary, it refers patients and familiesto weight-loss programs.

Washington, however, believes the most important benefit he provides isempathy. “If an overweight child says to me, ‘I’m just not a good athlete,’I’ll say, ‘I wasn’t a good athlete at your age either; but here are some thingsI did to get better.’ If a single mother tells me she can’t stop feeding herfamily fast food because she’s short on time and money, I’ll tell her I understand because I sometimes eat fast food too; but here are some foods I stay away from and here are some that are more healthful,” he said.

Washington feels he has had a positive influence on a child’s life when thechild makes small, meaningful changes. “If an overweight child goes fromwatching six hours of television a day to one hour of television a day, that’san accomplishment,” he said.

Along with the work he does through his private practice, Washington alsocombats childhood obesity by working with several national and internationalboards and committees.

Washington is cochair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ National TaskForce on Obesity. He organizes the efforts of a variety of childhood obesityspecialists to make sure the timeliest subjects are addressed, and the academyhas the most up-to-date research and data.

Washington also served as cochair of the Commission on School Nutritionand Physical Activities for Denver public schools. He studied the students’nutritional and physical activities; suggesting policy, environment and nutritional changes to the school board.

“Obesity currently is an epidemic in this country. The more we learn aboutit, the more we know that it is not decreasing,” Washington said. “I hopethat my efforts and the efforts of the organizations with which I’m involvedwill help begin to control this epidemic.”

“If an overweight child goes from watching six hours of televisiona day to one hour of television a day, that’s an accomplishment.” – Dr. Reginald Washington

Reginald L. Washington, M.D. Clinical Professor of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Colorado Medical Center; Medical Director, Rocky Mountain Pediatrix Cardiology

Residence: Castle Rock, Colorado

FACT NO. 10

Food should not be used as a reward – promisingchildren dessert if they eat their vegetables sends the message that vegetables are less valuable than dessert.

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25 26 27 28 29 30

1945: John H. Johnson publishes

first issue of Ebony.

1954: Charles C. Diggs elected Michigan’s

first black congressman.

1983: President Ronald Reagan designates

Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday.

1981: Thirman L. Milner elected mayor of

Hartford, Connecticut, becoming first African

American mayor in New England.

Daylight Saving Time Ends

1879: Thomas Elkins patents refrigeration

apparatus.

1992: Carol Moseley Braun becomes first African

American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

1968: Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn, New

York, becomes first black woman elected

to Congress.

Election Day

1900: James Weldon Johnson and

J. Rosamond Johnson compose

“Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

1989: L. Douglas Wilder elected governor

of Virginia, becoming nation’s first African

American governor since Reconstruction.

1938: Crystal Bird Fauset elected state

representative in Pennsylvania, becoming first

black woman to serve in a state legislature.

1731: Mathematician, urban planner

and inventor Benjamin Banneker born.

2006: Ed Bradley, pioneering journalist, dies.

1983: Wilson Goode elected Philadelphia’s

first African American mayor.

2006: Benny Andrews, painter and teacher

whose work drew on memories of his

childhood in the segregated South, dies.

Veterans’ Day

1989: Civil Rights Memorial dedicated

in Montgomery, Alabama.

1941: Mary Cardwell Dawson and Madame

Lillian Evanti establish the National Negro

Opera Company.

1940: The U.S. Supreme Court rules

in Hansberry vs. Lee that blacks cannot

be barred from white neighborhoods.

1915: Booker T. Washington, educator

and writer, dies.

1881: Payton Johnson patents swinging chair. 1981: Pam Johnson named publisher of

the Ithaca Journal in New York, becoming

first African American woman to head

a daily newspaper.

1980: Howard University airs WHHM, first

African American-operated public radio station.

1797: Sojourner Truth, abolitionist

and Civil War nurse, born.

1953: Roy Campanella named Most

Valuable Player in National Baseball

League for the second time.

1865: Howard Seminary (later Howard

University) founded in Washington, D.C.

1923: Garrett A. Morgan patents traffic

light signal.

1893: Granville T. Woods patents electric

railway conduit.

Thanksgiving Day

1930: Elijah Muhammed establishes

the Nation of Islam.

1897: A.J. Beard patents the Jenny Coupler,

still used to connect railroad cars.

1897: John L. Love patents pencil sharpener.

1868: Pianist Scott Joplin, the “Father

of Ragtime,” born.

1955: The Interstate Commerce Commission

bans segregation in interstate travel.

1883: Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and Civil

War nurse, dies.

1970: Charles Gordone becomes first African

American playwright to receive the Pulitzer

Prize (for No Place to Be Somebody).

1990: Charles Johnson awarded National

Book Award for fiction for Middle Passage.

1960: Richard Wright, novelist and author

of Native Son, dies.

1961: Ernie Davis becomes first black

to win the Heisman Trophy.

1908: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood

Marshall born.

1908: Adam Clayton Powell Jr., politician

and civil rights activist, born.

1897: J.A. Sweeting patents

cigarette-rolling device.

1912: Gordon Parks, writer, filmmaker

and photographer, born.


As an assistant pastor at the PasadenaChurch of God, Pastor Glovioell Rowlandrecognized an alarming trend: She wasattending too many funerals for people who had passed away prematurely due to chronic health illnesses, most of whichwere related to obesity.

“I thought, ‘What do I do to intervene?’”Pastor Rowland said. It was then that shelearned about “Body & Soul,” an initiative of the National Cancer Institute, AmericanCancer Society, and Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention. The program encourages African American church membersto be more active, and eat healthful dietsrich in fruits and vegetables. “It just makessense for people to get the bulk of their diet from fruits and vegetables,” she said.

In 1999, the Pasadena Church of God implemented the “Body & Soul” program,and Pastor Rowland became the church’spastor of health. Using sermons and Biblestudies; as well as church events and activities such as walking clubs, healthscreenings, active outings and cookingdemonstrations; the church’s leadership challenged its congregation to engage in healthful nutrition.

While some parishioners were slow to adoptthis new, healthful way of life, it is now integrated into every action and activity of

the church. “We’ve created an environmentthat says, ‘We’re going to live and be ingood health together,’” Pastor Rowland said.

The church made simple changes that aremaking a difference in its parishioners’ lives.All carbonated drinks were removed fromthe church vending machine, and replacedwith bottled water and 100 percent juice.Meals offered at church functions are nowlow fat and low salt. Fried chicken is nolonger served at funerals; instead, bakedchicken with healthful side dishes are served.And a full-size basketball court was paintedin the parking lot behind the church.

“When I see a child eat a piece of fruitinstead of a piece of candy, it makes mehappy. When I see that our parishioners havemore energy, it excites me,” said PastorRowland. “My goal is for our church to be the healthiest church in the world!”

She just might get her wish. Since the churchbegan implementing the “Body & Soul” program, Pastor Rowland said that there arefewer hospital visitations, as well as fewercases of depression and grief stemming fromthe premature loss of loved ones.

“I believe that being our best inside and out – body and soul – makes us more effectivehuman beings,” she said. “When we’re vibrantand healthy, we’re spiritually more powerful.”

Pastor Glovioell Rowland, Ph.D. Pastor of Health and Director, “Body and Soul” ProgramPasadena Church of God

Residence: Pasadena, California

“We’ve created an environment that says, ‘We’regoing to live and be in good health together.‘”– Pastor Glovioell Rowland

FACT NO. 11

Eating five servings a day of fruits andvegetables is one of the best ways to prevent cancer, heart disease and stroke.

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1955: Rosa Parks arrested for refusing

to give her seat to a white man, sparking

the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott.

1884: Granville T. Woods patents

telephone transmitter.

1847: Frederick Douglass publishes

first issue of North Star.

Hanukkah Begins (sundown)

1906: Alpha Phi Alpha, first black Greek letter

fraternity, founded at Cornell University.

1955: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organizes

Birmingham, Alabama, bus boycott, marking

beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

1932: Richard B. Spikes patents

automatic gearshift.

1941: Navy steward Dorie Miller shoots

down four Japanese planes during attack

on Pearl Harbor.

1925: Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. born.

1872: P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana

becomes first black governor.

1950: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche becomes first

black awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1926: Blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama”

Thornton born.

1995: Willie Brown defeats incumbent Frank

Jordan to become the first African American

mayor of San Francisco.

1944: First black servicewomen sworn

in to the WAVES.

1829: John Mercer Langston, congressman

and founder of Howard University Law

Department, born.

1883: William A. Hinton, first black

on Harvard Medical School faculty, born.

1994: Ruth J. Simmons named president

of Smith College.

1976: Andrew Young nominated by

President Jimmy Carter to be U.S.

ambassador to United Nations.

1802: Teacher and minister

Henry Adams born.

1865: Congress passes 13th Amendment,

abolishing slavery.

1875: Educator Carter G. Woodson,

“Father of Black History,” born.

1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union,

initiating the Civil War.

1911: Baseball legend Josh Gibson born. 1883: Arthur Wergs Mitchell, first black

Democrat to be elected to Congress, born.

1867: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, business-

woman and first black female millionaire, born.

1832: Charter granted to Georgia Infirmary,

the first black hospital.

Christmas

1760: Jupiter Hammon becomes first published

black poet with “An Evening Thought.”

1907: Cab Calloway, bandleader and first jazz

singer to sell 1 million records, born.

Kwanzaa Begins

1894: Jean Toomer, author of Cane, born.

1862: African Methodist Episcopal Zion

Church founded in New Bern, North Carolina.

1905: Earl “Fatha” Hines, “Father

of Modern Jazz Piano,” born.

1924: Author, sportswriter A.S. “Doc”

Young born.

1842: Congressman Josiah Walls born.

1892: Dr. Miles V. Lynk publishes first black

medical journal for physicians, the Medical

and Surgical Observer.

1930: Odetta, blues and folk singer, born.


It’s not easy being a young girl – especially when preadolescence is intensified byissues such as being overweight and obese.

No one knows this better than the volunteers at Project HEALTH’s Girls’ Fitness andNutrition (FitNut) Program. They are all female, and act as health and fitness mentorsto overweight and obese girls in low-income communities across the country.

“Before children can succeed at school and other activities, they need to be healthy,”said Lindsey Olier. She is a FitNut program coordinator, and history and science majorat Harvard University in Boston. “Poor health negatively impacts all aspects of life.”

Project HEALTH is an organization that engages college students in public healthinterventions designed to break the link between poverty and poor health. It partners with urban medical centers, universities and community organizations.

FitNut is one Project HEALTH program. It provides weekly after-school sessions forgirls ages 8 to 12. In a supportive environment, the girls learn healthful eating andexercise activities. They develop healthful lifestyle habits, and grow up with healthknowledge and self-confidence.

Olier volunteers at the Boston FitNut program, which is held at the Orchard GardensCommunity Center in Roxbury, a high-minority neighborhood where more than 35 percent of children live below the poverty level.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Boston Public HealthCommission report that 61.8 percent of African Americans in Roxbury are obese.Only 31.2 percent of the area’s Caucasians are obese.

“I want to help change these girls’ lives,” Olier said. “Although children don’t havecomplete control of their nutrition and fitness lifestyles, I want to teach them tomake smart decisions when it counts. I want them to pick a granola bar instead of a candy bar at the school snack machine.”

The results of the program have been stellar. After taking part in the program, 75 percent of FitNut participants “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that they werethinking more about what they ate. Sixty-seven percent of parents and guardianssaid their children are “more motivated” because of the program.

The best response? According to Olier, it’s something a little more hands-on. “The best feedback we get is when the girls tackle us with big bear hugs at the beginning of each program because they’re so happy to see us,” she said. “We are a real presence in their lives.”

Lindsey Olier History and science major, Harvard UniversityProgram Coordinator, Project HEALTH Girls’ Fitness and Nutrition Program

Residence: Houston, Texas

FACT NO. 12

Only 8 percent of elementary schools, 6.4 percent of middle/junior high schools and 5.8 percent of senior high schoolsprovide daily physical education during the school year.

“Although children don’t have complete control of their nutrition and fitnesslifestyles, I want to teach them to make smart decisions when it counts. I wantthem to pick a granola bar instead of a candy bar at the school snack machine.”– Lindsey Olier

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BiographiesTina Brown-Stevenson Tina Brown-Stevenson is president and head of Aetna Integrated Informatics,Aetna’s data, information and analytics subsidiary, responsible for statisticalmodeling, plan sponsor reporting, data warehousing and analytical product development.

Prior to joining Aetna in 2001, Ms. Brown-Stevenson was the vice president ofHealthCare Economics at Cigna; and before that, vice president of HealthSystem Development at Partners Healthcare System in Boston. She also servedas vice president for Medical Management of United Healthcare’s New Englandregion, and ran analytical and operational organizations for Family HealthPlans and the Health Data Institute. Ms. Brown-Stevenson is a registerednurse and a Certified Managed Care executive, has researched issues of self-management for arthritics, and copublished in the American Journal ofRheumatology. Ms. Brown-Stevenson received her undergraduate degree innursing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and her graduatedegree in Health Management from Framingham State College. She has completed postgraduate work in health informatics, and is a frequent guest lecturer on managed care and applied health informatics.

Gwen JohnsonGwen Johnson has reached her ideal weight and achieved a healthful lifestylewith the same energy she has devoted to career and community. Since reaching her weight goal, she is committed to staying on track personally and professionally. Now, she seeks to help young people adopt the healthfulhabits that she worked so hard to achieve for herself.

Currently a realty specialist at the USDA Forest Service, Ms. Johnson workedfor nearly 15 years as a program analyst with the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService. Prior to her employment with these government agencies, she owned a successful network marketing company, and worked 18 years in claims management at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oregon.

While projected retirement is only six years away, Ms. Johnson plans to stayactive with a second career, volunteer work and travel. To encourage and support others’ weight-loss efforts, she shares the story of her own struggle:how she overcame bad health habits, how she remained on the road to ahealthful lifestyle and how these steps have transformed the quality of her life.

Ann Smith Barnes, M.D.Dr. Ann Smith Barnes is an assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. A board-certified internist, primary care physician and medical director of the adult weight-management clinic at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston; her responsibilities include clinicalsupervision, research, teaching residents and medical students, and patient care.

With funding from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute ofDiabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Dr. Barnes is establishing theAfrican American Weight Control Registry – a registry of African American

adults who have maintained their weight loss – which will help to identify the important determinants of weight-loss maintenance within this group. To learn more about the registry, visit http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/africanamericanweightcontrol or call 1-866-WTSTORY (987-8679).

In addition to her research activities, Dr. Barnes coleads a multidisciplinaryteam in the Harris County Hospital District – of which Ben Taub Hospital is a member – to develop a standard of care for the management of obesityamong the system’s low-income and largely minority patient population.

A member of the Society of General Internal Medicine, Dr. Barnes graduatedfrom Yale College in 1991 with a B.S. in biology and from Harvard MedicalSchool in 1996 with an M.D. She completed a residency in internal medicineand primary care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in 1999. She is married to Matthew Barnes and has three children.

Fabiola D. Gaines, R.D., L.D.Fabiola Gaines is chief clinical dietitian for Depugh Nursing Center in WinterPark, Florida, supervising the nutrition services and clinical support team thatserves patients at this facility. She is a founding partner of Hebni NutritionConsultants, Inc., developer of the original Soul Food Pyramid – a culturallysensitive teaching tool.

An avid lecturer on culturally sensitive nutrition education for people of color, Ms. Gaines provides educational seminars to the American DiabetesAssociation, and records numerous educational radio and television spots.

With fellow dietitian Roniece Weaver, she is cochair of the cultural diversitycommittee for the American Diabetes Association in Orlando, Florida, andnational chapter. She and Ms. Weaver have researched, authored, coauthoredand promoted association-published books, including The New Soul FoodCookbook for People with Diabetes, Slim Down Sister, Month of Meals and The Family Style Soul Food Diabetes Cookbook.

A certified member of the American Dietetic Association, Ms. Gaines receivedher B.S. in foods and nutrition from Florida A&M University and has beenplaced on the university’s Wall of Fame as a distinguished graduate. She hasbeen honored as a Woman of Distinction for the Citrus Council of GirlScouts, Inc. and Speaking of Women’s Health.

Roniece Weaver, M.S., R.D., L.D.Roniece Weaver is a founding partner and executive director of HebniNutrition Consultants, Inc., developer of the original Soul Food Pyramid – aculturally sensitive food guide. Ms. Weaver also is president of Roniece Weaver& Associates Inc. She consults with food corporations, provides educationalpresentations and speaks nationally about many nutrition subjects.

With her partner, Fabiola D. Gaines, Ms. Weaver served as cochair of the cultural diversity committee for the Central Florida American DiabetesAssociation’s Orlando, Florida, and national chapters. With Ms. Gaines, she

did nutrition testing, researched, authored, coauthored and promoted four association-published books: The New Soul Food Cookbook for People with Diabetes, Slim Down Sister, Month of Meals and The Family Style SoulFood Diabetes Cookbook.

Ms. Weaver has been a guest lecturer at a variety of seminars; and has appearedon television networks and programs; including CNN, “On The Menu,”“Woman’s Today,” “The Tom Joyner Morning Cruise,” “St. Louis Black Expo”and “Ivanhoe Broadcast News.” She serves on the governing board of directorsfor both the Orlando Citrus Club and the Central Florida Partnership in HealthDisparities. She offers educational seminars to and serves on the communityadvisory council of the American Heart Association. She has received thePresident’s Award from the National Medical Association auxiliary, and she is spokesperson for EnovaTM Oil.

Ms. Weaver received a B.S. in food science/human nutrition from theUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; and an M.S. in health care administration from the University of Saint Francis, Illinois.

Ellareetha T. Carson, R.D., L.D. Ellareetha Carson is committed to improving consumer health by providingcomprehensive nutrition and health education information through workshops,seminars, community-based education programs and individual counseling.

Ms. Carson is one of the founding partners of Hebni Nutrition Consultants,Inc., the developers of the original Soul Food Pyramid – a culturally sensitiveteaching tool. Ms. Carson retired from the Florida Department of Health inJuly 2002; where she served as a senior public nutritionist with the OrangeCounty Health Department in Orlando, Florida. She also provided nutritioneducation counseling for participants in the Women’s Infants and Children(WIC) program.

Before moving to Florida in 1990, Ms. Carson provided nutrition educationand services in a variety of capacities. She was nutritionist and nutrition supervisor for the WIC program; and a nutrition consultant for the AmericanHeart Association’s Northwestern Connecticut division in Waterbury,Connecticut. She served as chief clinical dietitian and director of dietetics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut; clinical dietitian at LankenuaHospital in Philadelphia; and clinical dietitian and managing dietitian atOsteopathic Hospital, Philadelphia.

A graduate of Florida A&M University with a B.S. in foods, nutrition andinstitutional management, Ms. Carson completed her dietetic internship atFreedmen’s Hospital (Howard University Medical Center) in Washington,D.C. She recently received a certificate of training in Adult WeightManagement, and appeared on “Health Connection” and “Senior Living” on Vision TV.

A member of The American Dietetics Association since 1957, FloridaDietetics Association, East Central Dietetics Association of Florida and the American Diabetes Association Florida Affiliate Diversity Committee, Ms. Carson was honored in Who’s Who in the East, 17th edition 1979-1980.Serving as a mentor to young dietitians and dietetics students also is a longtime love of Ms. Carson’s, in which she still engages today.

Robert Ferguson, M.S., C.N.A recognized voice of weight loss through healthful living, wellness and nutritionexpert Robert Ferguson is an established leader in the wellness community. As a motivational speaker and consultant, Mr. Ferguson helps the general public, celebrities and professional athletes achieve their best bodies, increaseenergy, improve fitness performance and lose weight. His acclaimed Web site,www.dietfreelife.com, helps his clients stay up to date with the newest and latest information that supports a diet-free life.

Author of Conquering the Munchie Monster, coauthor of Fat That Doesn’t Come Back and consultant to destination spas, corporations and health clubs;Mr. Ferguson has been featured on radio; in magazines such as Star, Esquire,and Women’s World; and on TV programs, including “Access Hollywood,”“CNN Headline News,” “Good Morning America,” and FOX® Network and BBC Worldwide. He recently starred in the British version of “ExtremeMakeover”; and has trained superstars such as two-time World BoxingChampion Fernando Vargas; “Million Dollar Baby” star and four-time WorldChampion Lucia Rijker; and DreamWorks’ “The Contender” champions SergioMora, Steve Forbes, Alfonso Gomez and Freddy Curiel. He also is the nutri-tion and conditioning coach for top-ranked boxing heavyweight Samuel Peter.

Mr. Ferguson is a doctoral candidate in sports psychology at the OptimalPerformance University, Sunnyvale, California. He holds an advanced personaltraining certification from the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America,Sherman Oaks, California; and received his certification in performance nutritionfrom the International Sports Sciences Association, Santa Barbara, California.

Stacy Ann Mitchell, M.D.Dr. Stacy Ann Mitchell, coauthor of Livin’ Large – African American SistersConfront Obesity, is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and anauthor. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Mitchell is cofounder and partner of MedFocus Marketing Consultants, LLC based in Orange County,California. She is a regular writer and contributor to several health-relatedmagazines and Web sites.

Dr. Mitchell's passion is to empower and educate others to make better choices about their health and the health of their communities. An avid readerand sports fan, she enjoys tennis and running in marathons across the country.

Dr. Mitchell completed her undergraduate education at Howard University inWashington, D.C. She received her M.D. from the UCLA School of Medicinein Los Angeles, California.

Teri Mitchell, J.D., M.A.Teri Mitchell, coauthor of Livin’ Large – African American Sisters ConfrontObesity, is a longtime journalist and network television producer. Formerly a producer with “Dateline NBC” and CNN’s “American Morning,” she currently is a producer for a nationally syndicated talk show.

Ms. Mitchell is passionate about telling stories and sharing information thatcan change lives, especially the lives of women and families. She shares withher sister, Stacy, a love of writing and a desire to help empower African Americansto take control of their health, their relationships and their communities.

A graduate of Howard University with a B.A. in journalism, Ms. Mitchellalso holds a J.D. from Georgetown University and an M.A. in media studiesfrom The New School University in New York City. She is an Edward R. MurrowAward winner for excellence in journalism and a two-time Emmy® nominee.

In addition to her writing and television work, Ms. Mitchell is a volunteermentor. In her spare time, she enjoys movies, long afternoon naps, reading,being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.

Mark A. Johnson, M.S.S.W., B.S.W.Mark Johnson has worked at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Departmentsince 1989 as a community health planner dedicated to helping communitymembers get the information and treatment they need to reduce their healthrisks and encourage healthful habits.

From 1994-2005, he coordinated the African American Health PromotionProgram; which offered health education, resources, and support to the community through cultural diversity workshops, health prevention programs,conferences, festivals and other events.

At present, Mr. Johnson is the health equity team leader. In this position, hesupervises the Health Equity Program; the Bluegrass-Aspendale Teen Center;the Postponing Sexual Involvement/Reducing the Risk Program, the localKentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program; and the Early and PeriodicScreening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program.

In addition to his role at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department,Mr. Johnson serves the community as an HIV/AIDS prevention specialist,where he provides HIV counseling, testing and information for high-risk heterosexual communities in central and eastern Kentucky.

To extend his community network and better serve clients, Mr. Johnson is anactive participant in the region’s African American Health Network, the BlackChurch Coalition, the Heart and Soul Fest Committee and the Roots andHeritage Festival Committee.

Mr. Johnson received his master’s of science in social work from the KentSchool of Social Work at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky;and his secondary teacher certification and bachelor’s in social work fromMorehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky.

Mr. Johnson was recognized and honored by the House of Representatives ofthe Commonwealth of Kentucky for his contributions as the coordinator ofthe African American Health Network, as a community outreach worker andan HIV/AIDS prevention specialist. He also was commissioned a Kentuckycolonel for his outstanding community service.

Shiriki K. Kumanyika, Ph.D., M.P.H.Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika is professor of epidemiology, and associate dean forhealth promotion and disease prevention at the University of PennsylvaniaSchool of Medicine.

Dr. Kumanyika also serves as the founding director of the University ofPennsylvania’s graduate program in public health studies, as professor of epidemiology in the department of pediatrics-nutrition section at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, senior scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiologyand Biostatistics, senior fellow with the Institute on Aging, senior fellow withthe Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, and faculty associate in the Penn Institute for Urban Research.

Dr. Kumanyika’s current and recent studies involve the development and evaluation of culturally appropriate interventions to prevent or treat obesityamong African Americans in clinical or community-based settings. Dr. Kumanyika is the principal investigator and director of the Penn-Cheyney EXPORT (Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research onHealth Disparities and Training) Center for Inner City Health; a collaborationthat involves the Penn Schools of Medicine, Arts and Sciences, Nursing, andSocial Work as well as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania’s historically blackinstitution located in the Philadelphia area. EXPORT Centers are funded bythe National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities at the NationalInstitutes of Health. The Penn-Cheyney EXPORT Center focuses on environmental and behavioral strategies to reduce obesity and related diseases in African American and Latino communities.

Dr. Kumanyika’s most widely cited work relates to the epidemiology and management of obesity among black Americans. She is a member of the executive board of the American Public Health Association and the NationalInstitutes of Health Clinical Obesity Research Panel, and was formerly a memberof the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board. Dr. Kumanyika wasvice chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) expert panel on Diet,Nutrition and Chronic Diseases (2003); and has chaired or cochaired otherWHO panels on obesity issues. Since 2002, she has served on the expert panelto review evidence to update the World Cancer Research Fund Report onFood, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer Report; and she has chaired the Prevention Group of the International Obesity Task Force since 1996. In 2003, Dr. Kumanyika was elected to membership in the AmericanEpidemiological Society and the Institute of Medicine.

Lynda M. Dorman, B.A.Lynda Dorman brings over 19 years of nonprofit and marketing leadership to her position as executive director of BET Foundation (BETF), a 501(c) (3)nonprofit organization founded by BET Networks in 2003. Ms. Dorman is responsible for oversight of strategic direction, national initiatives and


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Biographies Lynda M. Dorman (Continued)operations for BETF; which promotes healthy lifestyles among AfricanAmericans, with a primary focus on eradicating obesity among women andgirls. In partnership with BET Networks, corporate donors and communityorganizations, BETF also addresses obesity-related health disparities in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension and depression through education and public awareness campaigns, and grassroots programs.

Before joining BETF in January 2005, Ms. Dorman served as executive director of Lawyers for Children America (LFCA), whose mission is to provide legal representation for children entering the child welfare system due to abuse andneglect. Ms. Dorman directed LFCA programs in Connecticut, Florida andWashington, D.C.; leading a legal team that trained volunteer lawyers to serveas guardians ad litem. Dorman managed strategic partnerships with YaleUniversity School of Medicine-Child Study Center, Family Courts, fundingpartners and community organizations involved in LFCA’s work. She also provideddirection to operations, communications and financial development activities.

Prior to her appointment at LFCA, Ms. Dorman served as principal of LyComEnterprises, a Maryland-based marketing and nonprofit consulting firm. Underher direction, LyCom Enterprises completed major engagements for MillenniumTechnologies, LLC; Fellowship of Christian Athletes; D.C. State EducationAgency-Adult Education; and other local and national organizations.

Ms. Dorman also has served as chief public support officer of the NationalCapital Chapter of the American Red Cross (ARC) where she was responsiblefor local, national and international disasters fund-raising goals; implementedcause-marketing programs; managed media and communications efforts; andserved as a liaison with the national American Red Cross on local philanthropic,media and diversity initiatives.

Prior to her work at ARC, Ms. Dorman served as project manager and executiveproducer for the Washington, D.C., office of the United Negro College Fund;responsible for fund development activities, including the local broadcast of the “Lou Rawls: Parade of Stars” telethon. She also has served in media director positions for Merrick Advertising and M.B. Productions; and for nine years in the congressional office of the late representative, Frank Horton.

Ms. Dorman earned her B.A. in business administration from National-LouisUniversity, and is a candidate for masters of international management/MBAfrom the University of Maryland-University College. She also is a member ofDelta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Women in Cable Telecommunications;National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment;American Society of Association Executives and National Black MBA Association.

Herman McKie, M.S., R.D.Herman McKie is nutrition coordinator with the New York City Departmentof Education’s Office of SchoolFood. He is responsible for developing nutritional

standards and policy for the schools, and assists with product reformulation tomeet evolving school nutrition guidelines. He identifies and develops materialfor food service managers to use in their monthly SchoolFood Partnershipmeetings with students and faculty.

Mr. McKie began service with the Office of SchoolFood in 1992 as a schoolfood service manager and has held positions of increasing responsibility. He has assisted the office in opening new kitchens, enhancing menu offerings andconducting in-service training within New York Department of Educationschools throughout New York’s five boroughs.

As district supervisor for the office in 1995, he directed a workforce of severalhundred employees; who provided meals to children under the National SchoolBreakfast and Lunch programs, latchkey snack programs and supper programsin three districts.

Mr. McKie received his M.S. in clinical nutrition from New York University. A registered dietitian, he is a member of the American Dietetic Association.

Reginald L. Washington, M.D.Dr. Reginald Washington is clinical professor of pediatric cardiology at theUniversity of Colorado School of Medicine and medical director of RockyMountain Pediatrix Cardiology in Denver.

Dr. Washington has been chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, and cochair of its National TaskForce on Obesity. He also served as cochair of the Commission on SchoolNutrition and Physical Activities for Denver Public Schools, and is the formerPresident of the American Heart Association (AHA) of Colorado, and served on the National Board of Directors of the AHA.

Dr. Washington’s publications include contributions to several textbooks,dozens of presentations at professional conferences and papers such asGuidelines for Pediatric Cardiovascular Centers (Pediatrics, 2002). His professional interests focus on exercise physiology of children, cholesterol and hypertension, and preventative cardiology.

Dr. Washington currently is a member of the Expert Committee on theAssessment and Prevention of Childhood Obesity convened by the AmericanMedical Association, Centers for Disease Control, and Health Resources andServices Administration; a member of the Expert Panel on Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Children convened by the National Institutes of Health; amember of the Measurement Advisory Panel on Childhood Obesity for theNational Committee for Quality Assurance; and a member of the ExpertCommittee on Obesity for the American Academy of Pediatrics. He serves on the board of Action for Healthy Kids and is its vice chairman.

Dr. Washington was named Cardiologist of the Year by HCA, The HealthcareCompany (2004) and Physician of the Year by the National American HeartAssociation (1995). He has been chosen by 5280 Magazine as the Best PediatricCardiologist in Denver for the past seven years. In 2004 he was awarded theWilliam E. Morgan Alumni Achievement Award from Colorado State University,where he received his B.S. He received his M.D. from the University of Colorado.

Glovioell Rowland, Ph.D.Pastor Glovioell Rowland is cochair of the joint steering committee of theCalifornia Department of Health Services’ California Nutrition Network. Afive-year recipient of a faith outreach grant from the California Department ofHealth Services, she directs a “Body & Soul” program coalition of churches thatprovide health outreach to African American families in their churches andcommunities. A national trainer for the “Body & Soul” program, which is an initiative of the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, andCenters for Disease Control and Prevention; she also chairs the program’s clergy review panel at the National Cancer Institute.

As a former assistant professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminaryand a postdoctoral research fellow at University of California-Los Angeles,Pastor Rowland helped write state legislation on child-abuse prevention. She is a member of the California Dialogue on Cancer’s health disparities team,a joint venture with the Center for Disease Control, American Cancer Societyand the California Department of Health Services. In 2005, Pastor Rowlandwas selected as a member of the advisory committee for Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Pastor Rowland received a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from BostonUniversity. A licensed and ordained minister, she serves as assistant pastor and pastor of health at the Pasadena Church of God.

Lindsey OlierAs a third-year student leader at Harvard University working toward a doublemajor in history and science, a certificate in health policy, and a citation inSpanish language; Lindsey Olier has an acute interest in the business side of all things science – especially those involving health care, technology and thehistory of science discipline.

Paralleling this interest, her coursework at Harvard to date includes an externship in health policy, medical ethics, medical anthropology and a thesisfocusing on technological innovation in corporate America. She has built upon these diverse educational experiences in her already completed work andvolunteer experiences.

Ms. Olier worked as an intern to the executive director of compliance atBrigham & Women’s Hospital, where she proposed methods to make the hospitaltraining program more efficient and thorough. She also coordinates ProjectHEALTH, a girls’ fitness and nutrition program, where she serves as a healthand fitness mentor for prediabetic and obese young girls residing in low-income,high-minority neighborhoods.

Ms. Olier worked on the marketing team at Microsoft Corporation in summer2006; where she proposed methods to ensure more efficient, higher ROI marketing strategies for Microsoft’s educational programming. On campus, she isan associate consultant for the Harvard College Consulting Group, presidentemerita of the Harvard Society of Black Scientists and Engineers and a choreographer for the Expressions Dance Group.

Drawing from her dance background, Ms. Olier’s dream is to own two successful,simultaneously operating inner-city dance schools in a metropolitan area. Thedance schools will emphasize ballet, modern dance, Christian praise dance, andhealth and well-being activities.

SPECIAL THANKSBeth AdlerProject HEALTHBoston, Massachusetts

JudyAnn Bigby, M.D.Brigham & Women’s HospitalBoston, Massachusetts

BJ Carter, M.S.Healthy Children Healthy FuturesStrang Cancer Prevention CenterNew York, New York

Leslie CurtisNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney DiseasesNational Institutes of HealthBethesda, Maryland

Angela GillespieUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Wanda IrvingBET FoundationWashington, D.C.

Emily JadwinWeight Control Information NetworkNational Institutes of HealthBethesda, Maryland

Shereelynn ManlangitWeight Watchers® North America, Inc.San Ramon, California

Rebecca OnieProject HEALTHChicago, Illinois

Alexis Williams“Body and Soul” ProgramNational Institutes of HealthBethesda, Maryland

Wendy YellinWeight Watchers North America, Inc.San Ramon, California

LOCATIONS FOR PHOTOGRAHY Aetna Inc., Hartford, ConnecticutJohnson residence, Vancouver, WashingtonBen Taub General Hospital, Houston, TexasWeaver residence, Windermere, FloridaBetter Bodies, Westlake Village, CaliforniaJohnson residence, Chicago, IllinoisConsolidated Baptist Church, Lexington, KentuckyUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,

Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Aspen Hill Club, Silver Spring, MarylandSchoolFood Test Kitchen, Long Island City,

New YorkPresbyterian/St. Luke Hospital, Denver, ColoradoPasadena Church of God, Pasadena, CaliforniaOrchard Gardens Community Center,

Roxbury, Massachusetts

RESOURCESA Healthy BET: www.ahealthybet.comAmerican Academy of Pediatrics: www.aap.orgAmerican Cancer Society: www.cancer.orgAmerican Council for Fitness and Nutrition:

www.acfn.orgAmerican Diabetes Association: www.diabetes.orgAmerican Heart Association: www.americanheart.orgAmerican Medical Association: www.ama-assn.orgAmerican Obesity Association: www.obesity.orgCDC Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity:

www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpaFood and Nutrition Information Center:

www.nal.usda.govHebni Nutrition Consultants:

www.soulfoodpyramid.orgInternational Society for Hypertension in Blacks:

www.ishib.orgNational Cancer Institute: www.cancer.govNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and

Kidney Diseases: www2.niddk.nih.govNational Institutes of Health: www.nih.govNational Medical Association: www.nmanet.org

MONTHLY FACTS SOURCESJanuary – Weight Watchers®. Meetings: www.weight-watchers.com/plan/mtg/index.aspx. Journal of theAmerican Medical Association 2003: 289(14): 1792.Heshka S et al.

February – Aetna InteliHealth®. Weight Management:www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/14220/7099.html

March – The Soul Food Pyramid: www.soulfoodpyramid.org

April – Aetna InteliHealth. Fitness:www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/7165/31792/349493.html?d=dmtContent

May – American Obesity Association. What Is Obesity?:www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/obesity_what2.shtml

June – National Institute of Diabetes and Digestiveand Kidney Disorders. Weight Control InformationNetwork – Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity:http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/index.htm#econ

July – Aetna InteliHealth. Weight Management:www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/14220/7099.html

August – American Obesity Association. Obesity inMinority Populations: www.obesity.org/subs/fast-facts/Obesity_Minority_Pop.shtml

September – Aetna Children’s Health. Nutrition andSchools: http://womenshealth.aetna.com/WH/ihtWH/r.WSIHW000/st.48408/t.48816.html

October – Aetna Children’s Health. How Can I HelpMy Overweight Child? http://womenshealth.aetna.com/WH/ihtWH/r.WSIHW000/st,48408/t.48836.html

November – Aetna InteliHealth. High Five to YourHealth: http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/325/26033.html

December – Aetna Children’s Health. Physical Activityand Schools: http://womenshealth.aetna.com/WH/ihtWH/r.WSIHW000/st.48408/t.488165.html

CREDITS Produced by Aetna Inc. Hartford, Connecticut

Project Manager – Peggy GarrityEditors – Lalani Perry, Tracy McKeeProject Assistant – Myrna Blum

Creative DevelopmentPita Communications LLC Hartford, Connecticut

Creative Director – Paul PitaContent Supervisor – Kim PitaWriter – Emily CretellaDesigner – Lisa SantoroWeb Site – Leslie Coffey, Keith Knowles

PhotographyLou Jones Studio Boston, Massachusetts

Photographer – Lou JonesAssistants – Matt Kalinowski,George Panagakos, Matt Viglianti,John Brewer, Lloyd Greene, Maritza Mercado

PrintingRiegel Printing Company, Inc.Ewing, New Jersey

TO ORDER CALENDARSAdditional calendars are available for $4 each. To order, please send a check, payable to Aetna, to:

Aetna CalendarCorporate Communications151 Farmington Avenue, RWABHartford, CT 06156-3213Phone: 860-273-0509Fax: 860-273-6887


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A healthful life approach - Aetna

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