Solving Obesity: Everyone’s Issue – A Workshop

Posted by Institutes of Medicine on September 15, 2014

Solving Obesity: Everyone’s Issue – A Workshop
When: September 30, 2014
Where: National Academy of Sciences Building (Auditorium) • 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20418
Topics: Children, Youth and Families, Food and Nutrition, Public Health
Activity: Roundtable on Obesity Solutions
Board: Food and Nutrition Board

Cross-Sector Work on Obesity Prevention, Treatment, and Weight Maintenance:
Models for Change

“This idea of cross sector engagement is critically important, so whether you are coming from manufacturing, transportation, urban design, education, information technology, this issue around obesity is everyone’s issue.” – Yvonne Cook, Roundtable Member

Obesity affects 17 percent of children and adolescents and almost 36 percent of adults. Conservative estimates suggest that obesity now accounts for almost 10 percent of the national health care budget. Until the obesity epidemic is reversed, obesity will continue to drive rates of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. A 2012 IOM report, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention, highlighted the need for action across all sectors to address the environmental and policy drivers of the epidemic. Many sectors have recognized the need for action, and a number of groups have formed across the country to tackle specific aspects of the epidemic. Stakeholders with a traditional role in promoting health, such as health care and public health institutions, have aligned and partnered with sectors not traditionally engaged in health promotion and obesity prevention, including education, transportation, business and industry. Successful examples of cross-sectoral collaborations exist, yet barriers exist when scaling and replicating such cross-sector initiatives. Continued efforts to partner and develop shared goals and initiatives between sectors are key to the prevention and control of obesity.

This public workshop, hosted by the IOM Roundtable on Obesity Solutions, will:

• Explore models of cross-sector work that may reduce the prevalence and consequences of obesity.
• Identify case studies of cross-sector initiatives that engage partners from diverse fields.
• Identify lessons learned from and barriers to established cross-sector initiatives.
• Engage participants to identify potential applications for their communities and organizations.

http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/ObesitySolutions/2014-SEP-30.aspx