UAMS Program on Childhood Body Mass Index Feb. 17

By todd

| LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will give health care professionals information about body mass index (BMI) in school-age children and youth Tuesday, Feb. 17, on the UAMS campus and via interactive video.

The UAMS Rural Hospital Program will present “Body Mass Index: What Does it Really Mean?” from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Room B/112 of UAMS Education Building II in Little Rock and via interactive video to hospitals and UAMS Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) in the state. This event has been approved for one hour of continuing education credit for physicians, nurses and pharmacists. To find the nearest location of the program, call (501) 686-2590.

Health care professionals will learn how to educate children and their families about BMI – a measurement that helps determine if a child’s weight is appropriate for his or her height. BMI is the best indicator of a child’s body fat and is particularly helpful in identifying children and adolescents who are at risk of becoming overweight as they get older. The session also will cover how health professionals can improve their patients’ BMI scores and recent legislation that requires schools to report students’ BMI scores to parents.

Joseph W. Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine and of maternal and child health in the UAMS College of Public Health, and director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, will speak.

UAMS will make the continuing education program available to the following sites in Arkansas:

• AHECs in El Dorado, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff and Texarkana
• Arkansas Methodist Hospital, Paragould
• Arkansas River Valley Cooperative, Ratcliffe
• Baptist Memorial Hospital, Forrest City
• Baxter County Regional Hospital, Mountain Home
• Bradley County Medical Center, Warren
• Chambers Memorial Hospital, Danville
• Chicot Memorial Hospital, Lake Village
• Community Health and Wellness, Springdale
• Crittenden Memorial Hospital, West Memphis
• Delta Memorial Hospital, Dumas
• Delta AHEC, Helena
• Eureka Springs Hospital
• Harris Hospital, Newport
• Helena Regional Medical Center
• Jones Family Center, Springdale
• Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Walnut Ridge
• Lee County Cooperative Clinic, Marianna
• Marvell Medical Center
• McGehee-Desha County Hospital
• Medical Center of Calico Rock
• Mena Medical Center
• Monroe County Health Unit, Brinkley
• National Park Medical Center, Hot Springs
• North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, Harrison
• Ouachita County Medical Center, Camden
• Ozark Health Inc., Clinton
• Piggott Community Hospital
• Stuttgart Regional Medical Center
• University of Arkansas Community College, Hope
• White River Medical Center, Batesville