As childhood obesity rates continue to climb, so does the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes in children. To address solutions for this growing health issue, Griffin Platt Rodgers, MD, MBA, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases will deliver the keynote address at the Enlightenment Luncheon, which will be held on March 14 at the InterContinental Hotel Buckhead.  

Rodger’s address is the sixth part of an Enlightenment Luncheon Series hosted by the Emory School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Atlanta philanthropists Stephanie Blank, Lisa Rayner and Laura Turner Seydel.  

Rodgers will be joined on the Enlightenment Luncheon panel by Mark Hyman, MD Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine; Andrew J. Muir, Bernard Marcus Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology and Director of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at Emory School of Medicine; and K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, MSc, MBA, Ruth and O.C. Hubert Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health. Karyn Greer, WXIA-TV anchor and reporter, will moderate the discussion. 

In the past two decades, Type 2 Diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, has become a growing problem among children, largely because of unhealthy eating habits, limited access to a variety of fresh foods, lack of physical activity and in some cases, genetic factors. The goal for this luncheon is to open a dialogue among researchers, health care providers and families to give them the knowledge to work together to promote healthy families, homes, schools and communities.   

The March 14 Enlightenment Luncheon is open to the public. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with the luncheon from noon to 2 p.m. in the InterContinental Buckhead’s Venetian Ballroom. For more information and to purchase tickets for the event, please call 404-727-4878 or visit the online registration website.