UND welcomes Illinois kinesiologist for lecture advocating healthy lifestyles for older adults March 5

Amy Halvorson

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

2-19-2014

Campus Unit

College of Education & Human Development

Abstract

The University of North Dakota will play host to special guest speaker Dr. Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, who will present a public lecture on healthy living for older adults at 3 p.m., Wednesday, March 5, in the Education Building, Room 113, on UND's campus.

The lecture is titled "Strategies for Promoting Physical Activity and Healthy Lifestyles in Older Adults: Lessons Learned from 50 years of Research and Practice." Chodzko-Zajko is a professor and chair of the University of Illinois Department of Kinesiology and Community Health.

The goal for this lecture is to provide students with ideas on how to build awareness of the importance of physical activity and how to assist with the development and implementation of physical activity intervention for the growing senior population.

"It is increasingly apparent that strategies to promote active and successful aging must be integrated into an effective public health policy, said Dr. Dennis Caine, professor and chair of the UND Department of Kinesiology & Public Health Education, "Kinesiologists and other health professionals, working in collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines, can help to reduce risk factors for chronic disease and improve quality of life for older persons by building awareness of the importance of physical activity and by assisting with the development and implementation of appropriate and effective interventions that reduce risk factors and improve quality of life."

"We believe that attendees at this lecture will leave with ideas on how to build awareness of the importance of physical activity and how to assist with the development and implementation of appropriate physical activity interventions for older persons."

About Chodzko-Zajko:

Chodzko-Zajko, professor and chair of the University of Illinois Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, earned a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from the University of London and a Ph.D. from Purdue University, also in exercise science. His primary research interests are in the area of aging and health. For the past 25 years, he has focused on the effect of exercise and physical activity on health and quality of life in old age.

Chodzko-Zajko has served on the World Health Organization committee that developed the "WHO guidelines for Physical Activity among Older Persons." He has published six books, more than 100 articles, given more than 200 scholarly presentations and received as principal investigator almost $3 million in research-related grants.

Chodzko-Zajko was the principal investigator for a series of projects charged with developing a national strategy for promoting healthy aging in the USA. He currently serves as co-chair of the Exercise is Medicine Committee on older adults.

Chodzko-Zajko was the founding Editor of the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity from 1992-2002 and serves on the editorial review board of eight journals. He has also served as chairman of the board of directors of the American Council on Exercise and is past president of the American Kinesiology Association.

Chodzko-Zajko's visit:

Chodzko-Zajko also will be at UND March 4-6 to serve as a consultant to the Kinesiology and Public Health Education department while it undergoes graduate and undergraduate program reviews.

His lecture is sponsored by the following UND entities: College of Education & Human Development, College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines, the Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Education, Department of Nursing and Dietetics, Department of Social Work and the Master of Public Health Program.

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