CONFERENCE--PREVENTION & TREATMENT OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY

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The goal of this project is to convene a national conference on the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. There is growing concern that the prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing in the U.S. Childhood obesity is recognized as a clinical and psychosocial problem as well as a potential precursor for major risk factors for several adult-onset chronic diseases. Yet, there is still no consensus on the operational definition of childhood obesity. There also exists debate in the pediatric community regarding the issue of the appropriateness of inducing weight loss in obese children because of concerns that weight loss may be deleterious to growing children. Hence, the question of the safety of dietary restrictions in children remains unresolved. It is well known that the probability of an obese child becoming an obese adult is extremely high; however, intervening in an obese child as soon and as vigorously as possible still is not viewed as optimal pediatric practice. There has been no major scientific conference devoted to childhood obesity in the past 5 years that was open to the general biomedical community. A national survey of primary care physicians caring for children listed childhood obesity at the top when asked what topics they wanted most for their continuing medical education. Therefore, a major national conference devoted to critical issues regarding the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity is timely. Under the sponsorship of the New York Academy of Sciences, we propose to convene an open conference, "Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity", where leading authorities will present up-to-date information and research findings on key issues related to this topic. Basic scientific, public health, and clinical aspects of childhood obesity will be discussed for a comprehensive coverage of this complex subject. Since television-watching has been implicated in childhood obesity, a panel discussion by leading journalists, child advocates, and private industry representatives will be scheduled. A special forum will be held where representatives from relevant Institutes at the NIH will present current and/or planned research initiatives in the area of childhood obesity. Lastly, the proceedings will be published as a single-topic volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, thereby ensuring efficient means of information dissemination and technology transfer in this important area of public health, prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.