News & Events
Envision research teams are developing a new series for The Lancet.
This special issue is scheduled for publication in August 2013. This issue will focus on reframing obesity and its consequences, the economics and biology of childhood obesity, new directions for obesity management, and policy and institutional frameworks for addressing obesity.
The Lancet Obesity Series Media Summary
The Lancet Obesity Series, featuring articles and commentaries by COMNet (Collaborative Obesity Modeling Network) members, is making headlines worldwide. COMNet is part of NCCOR's Envision project and includes members from both academia and government in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. The following link lists the teams and their members: http://nccor.org/envision/networks_comnet.html.
The Obesity Series was announced at a press conference at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.
It includes four papers and three commentaries, which describe the reasons behind the pandemic, the economic and health burdens of the disease, and the changes needed to the obesogenic environment to stem the tide of obesity for future generations.
The series received extensive international news coverage in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia with over 630 stories published to date. These stories were printed in some of the most prestigious news outlets in the US and the UK such as the New York Times, the BBC, The Guardian, and the Washington Post.
The headlines for these stories generally highlighted rising global obesity rates (e.g. half of adults in the UK and the US will be obese by 2030), the increased need for immediate government intervention to stem the tide of global obesity, and obesity prevention efforts governments could take to decrease obesity rates (e.g. taxing sugar-sweetened beverages).
Below are links to some of the most prominent print coverage:
- The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/ObesityStory1
- The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/ObesityStory2
- ABC News: http://abcn.ws/ObesityStory3
- CBS News: http://bit.ly/ObesityStory4
- BBC News: http://bbc.in/ObesityStory5
- The Guardian: http://bit.ly/ObesityStory6
To see additional coverage of the Lancet Obesity Series on major broadcast networks click on the videos below:
Work on the Obesity Series was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, NIDDK, and grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research of the National Institutes for Health.
System Dynamics Modeling Work
Drs. Rahmandad, Hovmand, Brennen, and Ammerman presented their system dynamics modeling work (which is part of CompMod) at the National Institutes of Health on July 15, 2011. The presentation was part of a mini-symposium organized by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) who is also funding the contracts to support this work. The presentation is available in the NIH videocast archives.
To view the videocast of the mini-symposium, please go to: http://videocast.nih.gov/launch.asp?16756.
In addition, NIH Radio did an interview with Drs. Peter Hovmand and Laura Brennan about their work. Click the link below to listen to the podcast or to view the transcript of the radio interview – under the heading "Childhood obesity research".
NIH Podcast Episode #0139 http://www.nih.gov/news/radio/podcast/2011/e0139.htm
Special Mini-Symposium (Rescheduled From January 26)
Harnessing Systems Science Methodologies To Inform Public Policy: System Dynamics Modeling For Obesity Policy In The Envision Network Friday, July 15, 2011
Chaired by Patricia L. Mabry, Ph.D., Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, NIH. Speakers: Hazhir Rahmandad, Ph.D, Virginia Tech; Peter Hovmand, Ph.D., Washington University; Alice Ammerman, Dr. P.H., University of North Carolina; Laura K. Brennan, PhD, MPH, Transtria Total Running Time: 01:57:42 Category: BSSR Lecture Series
If you have difficulty with accessing either the videocast or the radio podcast, please contact Dr. Patty Mabry in the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at NIH: firstname.lastname@example.org.