{"id":1431,"date":"2016-04-29T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med-fammed.sites.unc.edu\/milele-bynum\/"},"modified":"2018-07-21T12:46:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-21T16:46:15","slug":"milele-bynum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/fammed\/2016\/04\/29\/milele-bynum\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Story: Milele Bynum"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Milele Bynum is a third year medical student at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. But she is not just a future physician. She is a mother. She is a woman who has struggled with her weight. And she is an activist. Putting all of that together, Milele designed a project that sought to take a collaborative approach to effectively address the growing epidemic of obesity within the African American community.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs a person who has and continues to struggle with weight, I understand the health consequences that are associated with being overweight. As a mother and future physician, I want to serve as a model for my children and patients.” Milele Bynum<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Milele ultimately envisions herself working in a medical setting seeing patients, teaching students, and conducting research. She believes that by employing this three prong approach, she can help patients focus on the medical and<\/span> non-medical influences on health; guide students to be attentive to their patients’ needs; and add to the knowledge base to better understand the causes of health disparities.<\/p>\n

Working with First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, she implemented Walking in Faith<\/i><\/span>, a faith-based nutrition education and walking program. “As a person who has and continues to struggle with weight, I understand the health consequences that are associated with being overweight. As a mother and future physician, I want to serve as a model for my children and patients”, says Milele. “Through Walking in Faith<\/i><\/span>, I hope to empower myself and others to take control of our health by increasing physical activity and improving health behaviors.<\/p>\n

Walking in Faith<\/i><\/span> <\/i>was designed to encourage faith-based communities to become more physically active and to eat more healthful foods. The 8-week program used principles of faith to addressed healthy eating and physical activity, while providing participants strategies to achieve their health goals and overcome barriers. The nutrition sessions were coupled with a walking program to further encourage increased physical activity. The primary objectives of Walking in Faith<\/i><\/span> <\/i>were to:<\/p>\n