9/25/2018
Max Gakh - Addressing Childhood Obesity
In May, students in Prof. Max Gakh’s course, Public Health Policy: Integrating Theory and Practice, presented their semester-long project to staff of the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD). In the presentation, they explained findings from a policy analysis related to youth obesity in Southern Nevada and ultimately recommended enhancing implementation of an existing school wellness policy, which provides nutrition and physical activity standards in public schools. The class engaged with SNHD and other community partners in this multi-disciplinary, service-learning course. Law and public health graduate students spent the semester studying the factors that drive public health policy-making while simultaneously applying this knowledge to a tangible policy problem that is a current community priority. Prof. Gakh believes that experiential learning is a key component of making both legal and public health professionals more comfortable with the policy-making process.