As a community service program of the Orthodox Union’s West Coast Region, the OU will explore the current hot topic of pediatric obesity. Co-sponsored with the Healthy Kids Committee of the Maimonides Academy PTA, the free program, Pediatric Obesity Epidemic: Eat to Live vs. Live to Eat, will take place on Thursday January 12, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy. The program will feature Dr. Ronald Nagel, Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Rabbi Aharon Wilk, the principal of Maimonides.
“As parents who love our children, sometimes due to our love we send our kids the wrong message,” declared Rabbi Alan Kalinsky of the West Coast Region. “For example, ‘Have another piece of cake to go with your ice cream,’ or which parent hasn’t stated when our kids will not eat the food we’ve placed before them, ‘People are starving in the world, you must finish everything on your plate.’ These images coupled with the fact that our children are not as physically active
“As a community that celebrates life, and at every turn we do so with family gatherings filled with all kinds of delicious food, we need to re-educate ourselves as to a healthy attitude regarding food,” continued Rabbi Kalinsky. “I am so pleased that the Orthodox Union has raised communal consciousness regarding this issue and that the Maimonides Day School has agreed to co-sponsor this event. We have the Bureau of Jewish Education of Los Angeles and many yeshiva day schools as co-sponsors, including Harkham Hillel Academy, Shalhevet Schools, and Yavneh Academy. Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to my good friend Dr. Ron Nagel for agreeing to take time to speak to our community about this important issue.”