Public Health & Childhood Obesity

James Sallis, Chair

Thanks to Jim Knickman & Tracy Orleans from RWJF

Background

• Childhood obesity is increasing dramatically in the US & globally

• Environmental changes are leading to population changes in behavior

• Weight loss & individual approaches to weight gain prevention are inadequate

• This panel highlights new research to inform policy changes that can have population-wide impacts

Agenda

• Roland Sturm, Ph.D.– Economist, RAND Corp– Trends in obesity– Societal trends in physical activity, time use, eating,

food prices

• Deborah Cohen, MD, MPH– Physician & epidemiologist, RAND Corp– Structural model to guide thinking about solutions– Illustrate model with existing studies & new data from

multi-site TAAG study

Agenda

• James Sallis, Ph.D.– Health psychologist, San Diego State Univ– Results of interventions to change physical

activity & nutrition in middle schools– Introduce Active Living Research

• Time for Discussion