Tackling Obesity
7.06.04
 |
Nancy
Adler, MD, Director of UCSF's Center for Health and Community, introduces
CHC's feature on obesity with this editor's note. |
Obesity is the topic of the hour. Discussions about this epidemic appear
regularly in books, mainstream publications, scientific and medical journals,
government reports, and on television. Drug companies invest millions trying
to find obesity's silver bullet.
Yet in the face of all this sturm and drang, the epidemic continues to gather
force. We know that obesity is a critical problem but do not know how to
address it effectively for individuals or for the population as a whole.
Well over a quarter of US adults are obese, as are 15 percent of children
and adolescents. Obesity places people at significantly higher risk for
heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney problems, arthritis,
and some types of cancer. A recent article in JAMA projects that morbidly
obese individuals will die 13 years prematurely.
For years, UCSF faculty members have been conducting cutting-edge research
on the prevention and treatment of obesity, but until recently they were
largely working in isolation. Clinicians had limited contact with basic
scientists studying the underlying genetic and biochemical causes of obesity.
Few of those in the basic science community engaged with the social and
behavioral scientists studying the role of the family, community, and
behavioral patterns in eating and exercise.
When The Center for Health and Community put out a call to bring these
faculty together in an interdisciplinary group, the response was both
exciting and instructive. It made clear that these leaders in the obesity
field believe that interdisciplinary work is vital to battling the epidemic.
Together, they will have to address many critical questions. Among them:
Are the factors that predict whether individuals will put on weight the
same as those that predict whether they will be successful in losing it?
How do genetic vulnerabilities to weight gain intersect with environmental
factors? To what degree are the factors in weight gain similar among ethnic
and socioeconomic groups? How is the problem different for children, as
opposed to adults? How can we prevent individuals from becoming obese
and how can we help those who have already become overweight?
Our first step has been to join together to apply for funding for an exploratory
interdisciplinary center. These funds would allow us to bring together
geneticists, animal researchers, physiologists, psychologists, social
scientists, and clinicians to share their piece of the puzzle. Our aim
is to move beyond "one size fits all" prevention and treatment
programs to tailor programs for individuals and populations.
There is, of course, much more work to be done. Still, given the breadth
of expertise gathered, we enter the next phase with a shared optimism
that we can create tools and disseminate ideas that will make a real and
practical contribution to stemming the tide of this devastating epidemic.
(See links below for complete six-part article.)
Part 1: Tackling Obesity
Part 2: Genetics Provides Clues, Not All
the Answers
Part 3: "Our Biology Is a Mismatch
for Our Environment"
Part 4: Exploring the Intersection Between Body and Mind
Part 5: A "Toxic" Environment
Part 6: One Size Does Not Fit All
|
