Date and Time
March 12, 2003
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Availability
Open to the public
No RSVP required

Excess body weight is closely associated with several costly and disabling diseases, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and hypertension. The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically in the past decade, most alarmingly in children. A range of economic and technological advances over the past years have encouraged a significant shift in the dietary habits of Americans, contributing directly to the public health problem of obesity. However, standard public health measures (as seen in the war against tobacco) are not likely to help reduce the weight of the American people. In this presentation we will explore the trends and demographics of overweight and obesity, the economic and technological predisposing factors to excess food consumption, and some of the diseases that stem from overweight and obesity. We will describe some of the biological pathways through which obesity becomes disease, and we will propose one idea for buffering the negative health effects of obesity. We see an opportunity for a constellation of obesity-related projects at CHP and PCOR, and we hope to obtain feedback from the Research in Progress audience not only about the ideas we present, but for other related research topics.