1. OBESITY AMONG
MATTAPAN YOUTH
By: Corey Best, Magnolia Joseph, Natalia
Lopez, Giselle Moreno, Marrisa Noori, Mia
Probinsky, Hannah Walthall
2. Mattapan at a Glance
• Currently, over one third (35.7%) of American adults are
obese, and 18% of those aged 12-19 are obese.
• Mattapan has the highest overall obesity rate of any Boston
neighborhood, at 40%.
• 28% of Mattapan residents are overweight.
• Population: 36,480 (2010).
• Median income: $44,376.
3. Why is this Project Important?
• This program will offer quality health services to the community
of Mattapan, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
• Mattapan has a significant number of residents of low
socioeconomic status, which makes it very difficult for them to
afford insurance and incur the costs of expensive medical bills.
• By making Mattapan residents more aware of their eating habits
and level of activity, this can result in a significant impact in the
public health of the community as well as resulting in healthier
individuals and families.
• Thus, this project would help slow down the progression of
4. Aims of the Project
• To educate families to stop the trend of obesity in their families
• To increase awareness of the genetic components that lead to
obesity
• Give special attention to those who qualify as morbidly obese
• Provide a sense of autonomy to patients
• To teach healthy eating and exercise habits
9. Methods of Management
• Measure body fat composition of our clients
• Discuss with our clients and/or our clients and
their parents the risks that those with obesity have
for developing diseases such as cardiovascular
disease, hypertension, type-II diabetes, etc.
• Explain to them the ways in which obesity can affect their
social lives and prevent them from doing things that they
would want to do in the future on account of health issues
• Show them the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle
• Teach clients about what the human body needs in general for
it to work well
10. Methods of Management
•
• With the help of a genetic counselor, develop family pedigree
in regards to these diseases to assess clients' personal risk
-As well as have testing for possible obesity related
genes
-Help them plan their exercise and nutritional needs from
the point of view of nutrigenomics
• Have Bi-weekly weigh-ins
• Group empowerment sessions
• Partnership with the local gym or YMCA for
11. Genes Related to Obesity
GAD2 gene
Gene speeds up production of chemical messenger in the brain
called GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) which when
combined with another molecule, stimulates us to eat
Plin2 gene
Absence of the gene may cause fat to be broken down faster by
the body because the gene produces a protein that regulates
fat storage
FTO gene
Gene on chromosome 16 associated with fat mass and obesity
Sleep Disorders and Depression
Sporadic and irregular sleep may cause a decreased
metabolic rate, which could contribute to weight gain and
12. How this Project will be Carried
Out
• Mattapan Community Health Center (1972)
o Adolescent Medical Services
• Local high school
health centers
• Partnership with local
YMCA
• Partnership with local
grocery stores & farmer's
markets
• Additional funding from
13. What do we hope to see in the
end?
• Utilization of unique community characteristics
has allowed for best possible approach at
intervention
• Successful healthy lifestyle transformations in
youth participants
• Valuable, conclusive data on effectiveness of
both genetic testing and community
based interventions on weight loss
and instillation of healthy practices
14. Down the Line: One Year
• Gather information from previous studies to
understand the community and use success stories to
create the best possible intervention approach
• Initiate community-based intervention program in
Mattapan Community Health Center
• Research into and implementation of testing for
genes related to weight gain
• Develop, analyze, and improve specific methods for
15. Down the Line: Five Years
• Continue to work with the Mattapan community
• Evaluate our methods and make positive health changes more attainable for
clients
• Test community will show significant improvements in major health markers
• Analyze gathered data on gene testing and intervention impacts on health
outcomes
• Evaluate effect presentation on gene data to clients has on success with
weight loss
16. Down the Line: Ten Years
• Address whether early intervention has proven to
be successful in long term weight maintenance
• Expand program to similar communities in New
England and along East Coast
• Individualize programs based on needs of the
various communities
• Pool data for analysis, draw conclusions and
present to investors and researchers, promote
17. How Will This Project Improve
Public Health?
• By furthering knowledge about preventative care amongst individuals of
low socioeconomic status
• Make those with limited access to medical care aware of affordable care
in their community
o Free health clinics
• Provide knowledge on the steps needed to be taken in order to ensure a
healthy life
o Medical screenings
o Tests
• By teaching individuals how to find and gain access to medical care, we
plan on decreasing the discrepancy amongst individuals of high and low
20. References
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J. A. (2008). Public Health Genomics: Translating Obesity Genomics Research Into Population Health
Benefits. Obesity, 16(3), 83-94. Retrieved March 25, 2013, from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2008.517/abstract
Boutin, P. (2003, December). GAD2 on Chromosome 10p12 Is a Candidate Gene for Human Obesity, 1(3),
68. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0000068
Brönner, G., Friedel, S., Grallert, H., Hebebrand, J., Hinney, A., et al. (2007). Genome wide association (GWA) study
for
early onset extreme obesity supports the role of fat mass and obesity associated gene(FTO) variants. PLOS
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Retrieved from
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001361
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obesity clinic: an inpatient programme to address morbid obesity in adults. British Journal of Sports
21. References (cont.)
Frankish, H. (2001).Childhood obesity may be related to father's genes. The Lancet, 358(9281), 564.
Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(01)05750-6
Grace, C., Summerbell, C., & Kopelman, P. (1998). An audit of dietary treatment modalities and
weight loss outcomes in a specialist obesity clinic. Journal of Human Nutrition and
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Haas, W. C., Moore, J. B., Kaplan, M., & Lazorick, S. (n.d.). Outcomes from a medical weight loss
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Obesity & Genetics. (2010, January 13). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Retrieved March 25, 2013, from http://www.cdc.gov/features/obesity/
Public Health Genomics - Genomics and Health. (n.d.). Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Retrieved April 22, 2013, from
http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/resources/diseases/obesity/index.htm
Reeves, G. M., Postolache, T. T., & Snitker, S. (2008, August 1). Childhood Obesity and Depression:
Connection between these Growing Problems in Growing Children, 1(2), 103-114. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2568994/
