VUMC News and Communications

Childhood obesity in Tennessee is a growing concern. Research shows about 10 percent of children ages 2-5 and 15 percent of children ages 6-19 are obese, and the percentages have more than doubled in the last two decades. Experts at Vanderbilt say Tennessee‘s numbers match those national statistics.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the first hospital in the state, and one of the first 20 in the world, to employ a novel cardiac monitoring device implanted into the patient that can predict the need for hospitalization of heart failure patients up to two weeks in advance.

New findings on how best to identify students with learning disabilities will be presented by Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development members Donald Compton, Doug Fuchs and Lynn Fuchs on Thursday, Feb. 10, at 4 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center.

How do children‘s relationships with siblings affect their overall social development? Family researcher Susan McHale, professor of human development at Pennsylvania State University, will discuss her research on the impact of sibling relationships on family dynamics at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development Thursday, Feb. 3, at 4 p.m.

A pediatrician at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children‘s Hospital at Vanderbilt has opened a clinic to help families tackle the problem of childhood obesity. Greg Plemmons, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics, opened the Weight Management Clinic in December 2004 and immediately had eight referrals.

Tennessee‘s TennCare Centers of Excellence (COE) for Children in State Custody has been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as being one of the six most innovative programs in the country.