First Kids Risk Symposium
Managing Children's Risks: It Takes a Commitment

A symposium for child health professionals, journalists, educators, business leaders, policy makers, parents, and people who love kids

March 26 and 27, 2003

8:00 AM to 5:30 PM
at the Harvard University Memorial/Annenberg Hall
45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Press Release
- April 14, 2003

Meeting Information:  From birth through adolescence, today's children face a wide range of risks that change as they grow.  The Kids Risk Project focuses on understanding the risks to children recognizing the importance of using an analytical approach to characterize and address their risks.  Ultimately the project will provide a risk catalogue for children's risks that will help children, parents, policy makers, and others compare children's risks and strategies for reducing those risks. Currently the Kids Risk Project has on-going research in several areas including injury prevention, medical risks, environmental hazards, and depiction of risks in entertainment media, and this symposium included release of two of the project's research studies on: (1) The role of bath seats in unintentional infant bathtub drowning deaths and (2) How Much Do Kids Count in Corporate Board Rooms? Results from the First Survey of Fortune 1000 Companies.

This symposium included presentations of Kids Risk Project research released at the meeting and presentations from leaders in business, government, consumer organizations, foundations, and the health community.  The objectives of the symposium included:
1.  Increasing recognition of the critical role of good data and risk analysis in empowering kids, parents, and policy makers to make better choices in managing children’s risks,
2.  Beginning discussions to encourage the development of real partnerships to reduce risks forphotochildren and prioritize the national agenda, and
3.  Providing a clear message for why we should be very optimistic about the future of our children.

Final Meeting Agenda and Speaker Biographies (this is what you missed!):

March 26, 2003

8:00 Registration and continental breakfast - Selected music composed by Julia Carey, Junior at Milton Academy
8:30 “Welcomes”
Barry R. Bloom, PhD, Professor and Dean, Harvard School of Public Health
Marie McCormick, MD, ScD Sumner and Esther Feldberg Professor and Chair of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health
9:00 “Overview of the KidsRisk Project - Empowering kids, parents, and policy makers with information about risk and release of KidsRisk Project research ” – Kimberly Thompson, ScD
10:45 “Understanding our commitments - How much do kids count?” – William O'Hare, PhD, Kids Count Coordinator, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
11:10 “How much do kids count in the board room? Results of a new study” – Kimberly Thompson, ScD
11:30 “Corporate leadership and improving children's lives: A business perspective on this long-standing commitment” – Michele Courton Brown, President, FleetBoston Financial Foundation
12:00 “The business of making education effective and entertaining” – Joan Lawrence, Toy Industry Association for Tom Kalinske, President, Knowledge Universe and Chairman, LeapFrog Enterprises
12:30 Lunch “Reaching out to children with positive messages to encourage good choices” – Neil Shulman, MD, the real Doc Hollywood with Eddie Chapman, Chicago Police Department and Ann S. Kelly, Founder and Executive Director, Hands Are Not For Hurting Project
1:45 “Collaboration and the role of research in the middle of the consumer-industry-regulator triangle” – Kimberly Thompson, ScD
2:00 “The importance of good analyses of children's risks in consumer education and advocacy” – Heather Paul, PhD, Executive Director, National SAFE KIDS
2:45 “The importance of good analyses of children's risks in consumer product regulation” – Harold Stratton, Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission
3:30 Panel discussion: How can we use good science and risk analysis to work together and better manage children's risks? Michele Courton Brown, Heather Paul, Hal Stratton, Bill Walsh from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ed Chu from the US Environmental Protection Agency, Clark Nardinelli from the Food and Drug Administration, Sean Palfrey, MD, President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Rick Locker, Locker, Greenberg, & Brainin
5:00 “Highlights of the day” – George Lundberg, MD, Editor, MedGenMed and Special Healthcare Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of WebMD
photo

March 27, 2003
 8:00 Continental breakfast - String quartet: Kyumin Lee, Jaclyn Fishman, Deanna Badizadegan, and Satto Tonegawa, coached by Melba Sandberg
8:30 “Welcome and introduction to the morning's hot topics” – Kimberly Thompson, ScD
9:00 “Children's nutritional risks in context: Distinguishing big and small risks” – Dennis M. Bier, MD, Professor, Baylor College of Medicine and Director, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center
9:45 “Children and vaccines” – Alan Hinman, MD, Principal Investigator of All Kids Count, Task Force for Child Survival and Development
10:30 “The National Children's Study: Better data and better decisions” – Peter Scheidt, MD, MPH, National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health
11:00 “Getting to work: Making real improvements for children” – Debbie Sams, Chief Executive Officer, First Star for Peter Samuelson, Founder of Starlight, Starbright, and First Star Foundations
11:30 “Perspectives from pediatricians”– Birt Harvey, MD, Carden Johnston, MD, FAAP, Tracy Lieu, MD
12:30 Lunch – “Media and Child Health: Announcement of a new Center at Children's Hospital, Boston” – Jean Emans, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine, and James Mandell, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Children's Hospital Boston
1:30 “Media and child health: Peril and promise” – Michael Rich, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Director of the VIA Project and of the new Center on Media and Child Health
2:30 “Media and children's brains” – John Murray, PhD, Professor of Developmental Psychology, Kansas State University
3:30 “Creating positive pro-health messages for kids - the role of mentors” – Jay Winsten, PhD, Frank Stanton Center Director and Associate Dean for Public and Community Affairs, Director of the Center for Health Communication and of the Harvard Mentoring Project at the Harvard School of Public Health
4:15 “Violence as entertainment is a public health issue” – Jana Novak, Senior Policy Advisor for United States Senator Sam Brownback, Kansas
4:45 “Highlights of the day” – George Lundberg, MD, Editor, MedGenMed and Special Healthcare Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of WebMD
5:15 “Closing: The end of the beginning” – Kimberly Thompson, ScD

Approximately 150 people attended the meeting. The meeting also featured the art work of Linda Hatch's students.

The Kids Risk Project thanks the following sponsors for their support:
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children's Hospital Boston Center on Media and Child Health, Harvard Children's Initiative, Harvard School of Public Health Department of Maternal and Child Health, and the following trade associations for providing funds for the catering: American Chemistry Council, American Petroleum Institute, American Plastics Council, Can Manufacturers Association, Chemical Producers and Distributors Association, Chemical Specialty Products Association, Chlorine Chemistry Council, The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, CropLife America, Polystyrene Packaging Council, The Soap and Detergent Association, Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, and Styrene Information and Research Council. 

HomeLinksResearch & NewsFor AdultsFor Kids