Pennington Biomedical’s Greaux Healthy Initiative for Louisiana addresses childhood obesity

(Press-News.org) Pennington Biomedical Research Center publicly introduced its Greaux Healthy initiative, a public service initiative designed to help improve Louisiana kids’ health at every age, during the weekly Red Stick Farmer’s Market on Thursday. Developed in partnership with the State of Louisiana, Greaux Healthy implements 35 years of Pennington Biomedical research and discoveries to inform tools, resources and programing for children, parents, healthcare providers and educators throughout the state.   

“Greaux Healthy was created with one clear goal: to make Louisiana’s children healthy again,” said Governor Jeff Landry. “Through this great initiative, Pennington Biomedical, our Administration, and the Louisiana Department of Health are focused on working together to secure a healthier future for the next generation” 

"The Greaux Healthy initiative represents Pennington Biomedical's commitment to creating 'solutions from cells to society,'" explains Dr. John Kirwan, Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical. "What makes this initiative so powerful is that every component builds on more than three decades of groundbreaking research from our world-renowned scientific team." 

Officials at the announcement explained that childhood obesity has become a leading public health crisis in America, with 1-in-5 children affected. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, 23.1 percent of Louisiana children are living with obesity. Louisiana ranks third highest for childhood obesity in the United States, but the Greaux Healthy initiative is intervening to make a positive impact.  

"Greaux Healthy is committed to being the most trusted partner in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity,” said Melissa Martin, Greaux Healthy Director. “Our resources are confirmed by research and built for families to use in their daily lives, helping them create healthier futures for themselves and the children they love.”  

Martin emphasized that the Greaux Healthy initiative has developed, and continues to expand, a wide variety of tools and resources designed to support childhood obesity prevention and treatment. Greaux Healthy covers four priority populations: expectant families and parents of infants, preschool-aged children, school-aged children, and adolescents and young adults 

Confirming the importance of Greaux Healthy’s mission, Martin said, are results of a survey of Louisiana parents and pregnant women that identified childhood obesity as the number one health affliction having the most harmful impact on the state’s children, outpacing smoking/vaping, mental health issues, high blood pressure, and diabetes. 

Since it began, the Greaux Healthy initiative introduced several impactful tools across Louisiana. The Greaux Healthy program includes a school-wide promotion of healthy behaviors, physical education lessons with instant activities, take-home newsletters, and classroom lessons with corresponding activity books.  These materials have been adopted by more than 20 schools around the state in regions including Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and Lafayette, with many more planned. Currently tailored for 4th grade classrooms, Greaux Healthy aims to expand program implementation in the 2025-2026 school year providing classroom resources from 4th through 8th grades. 

In Louisiana childcare centers, Greaux Healthy is offering education and support through Early Childhood Education trainings that help the centers implement best practices across their programs, giving Louisiana’s youngest residents a healthy start. These trainings have been completed at centers around the Baton Rouge area with plans to expand via training and implementation partners and self-paced online learning. 

For health providers, Greaux Healthy offers education on evidence-based childhood obesity treatment. Its efforts are supported by the Greaux Healthy Provider Hub, an online hub that offers a free Childhood Obesity Prevention, Evaluation, and Treatment Toolkit and continuing education opportunities through the Improving Childhood Obesity Care webinar series. Through these available resources and planned future projects, Greaux Healthy can help healthcare professionals implement effective strategies rooted in the latest science. 

“For years we have been building a library of evidence-based prevention and treatment for childhood obesity, and Greaux Healthy is a major initiative to put our findings into action for our Louisiana citizens,” said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, Chief Scientific Officer for Greaux Healthy and Associate Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical’s Population and Public Health Sciences Division. “Health and nutrition at early stages, including in the embryonic stage, are known to be major factors in health later in life. Greaux Healthy is taking that evidence and turning it into practice, providing the education and tools needed to help support our children as they grow into healthy and active adults.” 

To reach Louisianians, Greaux Healthy is launching a tour with its Healthy Moves bus traveling to all nine Louisiana Department of Health regions of the state to showcase ways the initiative can benefit Louisianians in every community. Greaux Healthy leaders will meet with educators, physicians, governmental and business leaders at every stop and meet with the media.   

The Pennington Generation research study will also take part in the statewide tour, enrolling Louisiana families who want to learn more about how physical activity, nutrition, sleep habits, and other factors affect children’s health and development. 

Greaux Healthy is overseen by a national scientific advisory board, with researchers representing Tufts University, University of Florida, Duke University School of Medicine, Columbia University, Temple University College of Public Health, and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital.  

About Greaux Healthy 

Greaux Healthy is a public service initiative powered by Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in partnership with the State of Louisiana, focused on preventing and treating childhood obesity in the state. Drawing from over 35 years of scientific research, Greaux Healthy creates evidence-based tools, resources, and programs that promote better health for children of all ages. Each component of the initiative serves as a guide to empower families, educators, healthcare providers, and communities with proven practices to prevent and treat childhood obesity. By fostering collaboration and providing practical solutions, Greaux Healthy is working to create a healthier future for Louisiana’s children. Learn more at www.greauxhealthy.org.

About the Pennington Biomedical Research Center

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. Pennington Biomedical has the vision to lead the world in promoting metabolic health and eliminating metabolic disease through scientific discoveries that create solutions from cells to society. The center conducts basic, clinical, and population research, and is a campus in the LSU System.

The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes over 600 employees within a network of 44 clinics and research laboratories, and 16 highly specialized core service facilities. Its scientists and physician/scientists are supported by research trainees, lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and other support personnel. Pennington Biomedical is a globally recognized state-of-the-art research institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more information, see www.pbrc.edu.

END