Announces Research and Practice Symposium and Special Supplement of Public Health Reports
Summary
The Georgia Department of Public Health and Georgia Shape initiative are sponsoring a special supplement of Public Health Reports. This announcement invites authors to submit manuscripts that describe original research, public health surveillance, policy analyses, or systematic reviews on methodologies for addressing youth obesity, increasing youth physical activity, and increasing youth consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Submissions from a wide array of disciplines are encouraged. This includes public health practice, epidemiology, biostatics, clinical trials, exercise science, nutrition science, education, neuroscience, medicine, law or policy, ethics, and social work. Submissions must be original, and not previously published. Preference will be given to authors and studies involving the southeastern U.S., particularly Georgia, and authors that present information with practice-related implications. Submissions that apply a health equity lens or focus on the elimination of disparities—rural and urban, income-driven, and race/ethnicity—are strongly encouraged.
Authors with abstracts that are highly rated by an expert panel will be invited to present at the October 2015 Shape Symposium and to submit a manuscript for peer review and potential publication in a 2016 special supplement of Public Health Reports. Public Health Reports is the official publication of the U.S. Surgeon General. Abstracts not chosen for publication may be selected to be presented as a poster at the Shape Symposium.
To submit an abstract, please submit no more than 400 words by May 14, 2015 to [email protected]. Please include the following:
- Author Name(s), Degree(s), and Affiliation(s)
- Title of Proposed Manuscript
- Email Address and Phone Number of Lead Author
- Conflict of Interest Disclosure, if any, for Authors
Key Dates
May 14, 2015—Abstract Submission Deadline
October 5, 2015—Shape Research and Practice Symposium in Athens, Georgia
October 5, 2015—Manuscript Draft Submission Deadline
November 13, 2015—Final Manuscript Submission Deadline
November/December 2016— Georgia Shape Special Supplement of Public Health Reports Publication
Questions
For questions, please contact [email protected]
Journal Information
Public Health Reports (PHR) has been published since 1878 and is the official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service. Since 1999, PHR has been published by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). PHR is a peer-reviewed journal published on a bi-monthly basis. The six regular issues produced annually offer articles in three main areas: public health practice, research, and viewpoints/commentaries. Each issue offers recurring guest columns such as Local Acts, Global Health Matters, ASPPH "From the Schools and Programs of Public Health", Law and the Public's Health, Public Health Chronicles, NCHS Dataline, and the Surgeon General's Perspectives. In addition to the six regular issues, PHR produces supplemental issues approximately 2-5 times per year which focus on specific topics that are of particular interest to our readership. The Journal's contributors are on the front line of public health and they present their work in a readable and accessible format.
Georgia Shape Information
Georgia Shape is the Governor’s statewide, multi-agency and multi-dimensional initiative that brings together governmental, philanthropic, academic and business communities to address childhood obesity in Georgia. Over the next ten years Georgia Shape will work towards increasing the number of students in the Healthy Fitness Zone for Body Mass Index by ten percent. Other objectives set forth by the Governor and Georgia Shape include reaching disparate populations, increasing the aerobic capacity measure of Georgia’s youth, increasing the breast feeding rate across Georgia, and increasing the number of early care centers that excel in nutrition and physical activity measures.
The Georgia Shape initiative is a comprehensive childhood obesity prevention effort that was launched in 2012 by the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), under the leadership of Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, MD. The initiative includes strategies for addressing obesity from birth through age 18 and involves statewide, coordinated efforts with targeted communication strategies and multiple partnerships with other state government agencies, private foundations, healthcare providers, professional athletic teams, and private companies. Georgia Shape builds on the success of the Georgia SHAPE (School Health and Physical Education) policy that the legislature adopted in 2009, requiring each local school district to conduct an annual fitness assessment program for all students in first through 12th grade enrolled in Georgia public school physical education classes. This work allowed Georgia Shape to be commended in 2013 by the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition for being the first state in the nation to implement the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
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