Tuesday, February 24, the first lecture in the 2015 Enmark Encourage Health Education Series, “5 Strategies for the Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity,” will be presented by Nathan Mikeska, BS Nutrition, CPT, CWC and Courtney Peterson, Certified Health Education Specialist and wellness coach at Ourlife Health.

Mikeska started his wellness career as a personal trainer in 2005, while he was active duty in the United States Air Force. After the military, he pursued his nutrition degree at Georgia Southern University and graduated in 2012. In January 2014, he started the Wellcoaches Certified Health and Wellness Coach training program. Upon completion in August 2014, Mikesha became certified as a health and wellness coach, and is currently enrolled in the Wellcoaches professional coach training.

Peterson is a graduate of the University of Georgia Health Promotion and Behavior program and a Certified Health Education Specialist, CHES. She interned with St. Joseph’s Candler Wellness Center and Head Start of Athens-Clarke County, assisting with childhood obesity and wellness programs. Peterson is now a wellness coach at Ourlife Health, helping Savannahians lose weight and create healthy lifestyles.

This Enmark Encourage Health presentation will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Auditorium of the Savannah Morning News, located at 1375 Chatham Parkway in Savannah. A healthy lunch will be provided by local business sponsors. Attendance is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required at Healthy Savannah’s website, http://healthysavannah.org/event-sign-up-page/.

Childhood Obesity Prevention and Education (COPE) has been selected as the nonprofit organization to be awarded the $2,000 Encourage Health grant during the lecture. The mission of COPE is to combat childhood obesity with a threefold approach – nutrition education, fitness and behavioral health.

COPE will also be raising funds on Saturday, February 28 at the Enmark Station located at 7406 Waters Ave from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During this “Enmark Dollar Day” there will be opportunities for the COPE to receive $1 for every car wash, $1 at their charity table and $1 donations will be accepted at the Enmark cash registers.

Along with the Dollar Day, the four selected nonprofit organization chosen for the Encourage Health Grants are competing for a grand prize. The groups will be given a scannable bar code that can be used throughout the year with the Enmark mobile app to rack up points for the different nonprofit organizations. Enmark has also make a bar code available at the store level for those that don’t have a smart phone. The codes can be used in all 64 Enmark stores. Whichever organization has the most points at the end of the year will be the winners of the grand prize.

The 2015 Enmark Encourage Health Education Series is sponsored by Healthy Savannah, Chatham Area Transit, Sandfly Family Dental, Stevens Hale and Associates, Savannah Morning News, Savannah Magazine, Pediatric Associates of Savannah, WJCL, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and GPB Savannah – WSVH 91.1/WWIO 89.9.