Groups’ Initiatives Focus on Minorities and Obesity, Cancer Among Nigerians

• Asian youth: FIRST 5 California -- also known as the California Children and Families Commission -- recently started a statewide outreach campaign to address childhood obesity among Asians and Pacific Islanders, the Contra Costa Times reports. The campaign will include print, radio and television ads, some of which will be available in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. The campaign also will feature community forums, workshops and other outreach efforts. Last year, First 5, the Office of the Governor and the state Department of Health Services started a childhood obesity campaign, featuring television ads in English and Spanish (Louie, Contra Costa Times, 1/22).
  
  
• Blacks: The insurance company Aetna on Monday released its 2007 African American History Calendar, which provides information, advice and perspectives on nutrition and obesity from predominantly black health professionals, dBusinessNews reports. The 2007 edition of the calendar highlights weight-loss stories, recent research, and community and church-based programs. Aetna has produced the calendar, which is available for $4, since 1982 (dBusinessNews, 1/22).
  
  
• Nigerians: The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Ministry of Health of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on cancer research, education and training programs in Nigeria. M.D. Anderson's Center for Research on Minority Health has been working to reduce health disparities among Nigerians and Nigerian Americans. The center is located in Houston, which has a large population of Nigerians. M.D. Anderson in October 2006 participated in a conference in Nigeria where leaders from several organizations discussed cancer management, early detection, public awareness and prevention of common cancers affecting Nigerians. Lovell Jones, director of CRMH, said the memorandum of understanding is a "critical cornerstone event to begin unraveling cancer and other health-related disparities, particularly diseases affecting Nigerians and African Americans who share the same genetic heritage" (M.D. Anderson Cancer Center release, 1/19).