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Retired Physician Tackles Childhood Obesity at Columbia Barbershop

(Diane Dunn, HoCo Well and Wise) --

When Jerry Seals, M.D., retired in 2007 from his practice with Charter Internal Medicine, he found numerous ways to continue participating actively in the health and well-being of his community, especially its children.

A New York Times article about a Connecticut town that brought trucks with fresh produce into some of its low-income neighborhoods resonated with Seal’s concern about the growing number of children in Howard County with hypertension and obesity. It motivated him to develop a screening program for children in the Columbia area.  With fellow members of the Howard County chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Rogers Lewis, M.D., and Bryant Robinson, Esq.) as well as volunteer physician Ruth Penn, M.D., he won a Horizon Foundation grant to start a blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) screening program at Warren’s Barbershop in the Owen Brown Village Center.

The yearlong screenings started in March and are available on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.  The program targets children and adolescents from 3 to 18 years old to raise awareness of hypertension and childhood obesity as precursors to other preventable diseases and to encourage people to see their primary care physicians for regular checkups.

"Historically, people have thought about hypertension and obesity as adult problems," noted Seals, "but we are seeing this more and more in young children. If not detected and dealt with early on, these conditions can lead to serious and even deadly medical issues later in life."

Most people think of Columbia as a relatively affluent and healthy place to raise kids with a multitude of grocery stores and recreation options to keep them active. "For many of us it is,"Seals said. "But for people living in low-income areas, access to healthy food- which is generally more expensive- is not so easy, and high fat, high sugar fast food often becomes the norm.  Also, these parents may not have the time or money to enroll their children in healthy athletic programs.  There is also a cultural component: some ethnic communities have historically eaten higher fat diets."

Lack of understanding of hypertension, genetic predisposition, the cost of treatment and limited access to health care are factors in the prevalence of high blood pressure in low-income children.  Seals hopes his screening program will serve as both a diagnostic and educational tool.  Children with abnormal findings will be referred for medical follow-up with their family physicians.  If they don't have a family doctor, they will be referred to the Howard County Health Department.  Seals and his partners also will provide information on diet, exercise and the importance of monitoring blood pressure.

"We are limited in what we can do since we are screening and not treating children," said Seals. "But we hope that bringing more low-income kids into the program will increase awareness and help to prevent future health problems associated with these conditions."