Obesity Research Core
Overview
Obesity prevalence has reached epidemic proportions and has become a serious public health problem for Americans of all ages, races and genders. Nearly one-third of all adults (59 million people) are classified as obese; the number of obese persons has almost doubled over the last twenty years. Similarly, over one-sixth of children are obese and this number has also doubled in two decades. Obesity increases the risk for several serious health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer. Although, obesity is largely a genetic disease, it is unlikely that our genes have changed significantly over the last twenty years to explain the obesity epidemic. Our consumer oriented culture and affluent way of life, i.e. abundant food supply and automation, interacting with “thrifty” genes are important contributors to this alarming trend. A major interest has emerged in understanding the key ways the physical environment has affect obesity. UNC is unique in the number of scholars that focus research on the built environment and various relationships of it with dietary behavior, physical activity and obesity throughout the life cycle. This core will utilize the strengths of this cluster of scholars to study environmental factors that contribute to obesity and metabolic and hormonal alterations.
Objectives
The Obesity and the Built Environment (OBE) Research Core has the following objectives:
- to support and expand collaborative research in obesity-environmental interactions utilizing rigorously designed human studies,
- to bring together, on a regular basis, interdisciplinary researchers to brainstorm ideas related to obesity-environmental interactions,
- to foster dialogue regarding policy implications of obesity and the environment,
- to stimulate new collaborations through pilot studies and the development of a coherent training program, and
- to sponsor visiting key scientists and opinion leaders in the area of obesity and the built environment.
Obesity and Built Environment Research Accomplishments - 2006
