While sadly, ACSH founder Dr. Elizabeth Whelan passed away in 2014, she left plenty of herself behind. After you read what Christine, her daughter, and now Eleanor, her granddaughter, have done, you'll have to pinch yourself. But this story is real. And really something. And just plain amazing. Read it and you'll see why.
Forty-two years ago ACSH was founded by Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. Sadly, Dr. Whelan passed away in 2014, but her legend lives on in the name of her daughter Christine and now her granddaughter Eleanor.
Recently, Eleanor hosted a podcast from the Emory University Center for the Study of Human Health called No Kidding: Health is Everything, where she interviewed Dr. Monika Roots, a child psychiatrist, about how kids can stay mentally healthy in the pandemic.
She has also interviewed Dr. Lindsey Leininger, a member of the ACSH Board of Trustees about how to understand health statistics in everyday life. [Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and GooglePodcasts.] The word "adorable" does not do Eleanor justice, as you will see.
Elanor is 8. No, that's not a typo. 8??? Seriously?
Yep, it's real. Eleanor hosting a podcast, May, 2020.
But, as everyone at ACSH knows, this kind of accomplishment is not the least bit surprising. Eleanor has it in her DNA.
When Christine, was 8, she hosted a radio show called “No Kidding,” a talk show for kids, by kids, where she hosted physicians and scientists to talk about health issues – and translate those topics into kids-speak. With lots of help from ACSH, Cheryl Martin, and her mother Beth, Christine recorded this nationally syndicated show in Nutmeg Studios in New York City in the 1980s. In this family, the apple doesn't even fall off the tree.
Christine (age 8) hosting “No Kidding,” a talk show for kids.
Christine, who is, by any measure accomplished (and then some), went on to study and teach behavior change and well-being but discussions of real v. hypothetical risks were always topics at the family dinner table as she started a family of her own (1).
Dr. Michelle Lampl, founder, and director of the Emory University Center for the Study of Human Health, who oversees the Health is Everything podcast series had this to say about Eleanor:
"We all want our kids to learn healthy habits, and with Eleanor’s sincere, simple and sweet questions through these sometimes complicated topics, I hope more young people will see that health is everything, and can be accessible, too.”
And it doesn't stop there...
If schools do go back into session in the fall, instead of “what did you do with your summer vacation,” the question will be “what did you do during the pandemic?” Eleanor’s response will be, “I followed in my mother and grandmother’s footsteps and created a health podcast to translate science into kids’ language so that more people can get evidence-based public health information into their daily discourse.” Or something like that.
Unreal. When I was 8, I was learning to collect baseball cards. What a family.
NOTE:
(1) in 2018, Christine became the first Chair of ACSH's Board of Scientific Advisors (in her "spare time.)
