Super-sized world: Conference addresses global obesity epidemic, explores policies, interventions

A conference at the New York Academy of Sciences on December 9 will convene leading obesity researchers to explore the latest science and policy initiatives addressing the global and national health crisis of obesity. The half-day event, Super-sized World: The Global Obesity Epidemic, is presented by the Academy and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with support from the new Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science.

More than one billion adults worldwide are overweight and nearly 300 million are clinically obese, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke and certain forms of cancer. Once thought to be a problem affecting only industrialized, developed countries, obesity and obesity-related diseases are increasingly prevalent in the developing world.

Speakers Benjamin Caballero, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Jeanne Clark, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will give the global and domestic perspectives on obesity, respectively.

Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, of Yale University, will present "The Final Frontier: Is There the Courage to Change Policy," and Keshia M. Pollack, PhD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will present "Interventions: Successes, Opportunities, and Challenges."

Robert S. Lawrence, MD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will moderate a panel discussion. A reception will follow the event.

Super-sized World: The Global Obesity Epidemic, takes place from 12:00 - 6:00 PM on Thursday, December 9, 2010, at the New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St., 40th floor, New York, NY.

Registration is $35. Academy members are admitted free. Register online at www.nyas.org/supersized.

Media may register by contacting Adrienne Burke, Director, Public Outreach, the New York Academy of Sciences, at aburke@nyas.org, 212.298.8655.

Provided by New York Academy of Sciences