Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

This member contributed to:

    • Dear Colleagues,

      On behalf of Dr. David Allison and myself, please find below our contribution.

      The belief that any particular public policy or public policies in general may be effective in helping to reduce obesity rates is intuitively a sound idea and might be true in some cases. However, intuitive plausibility does not imply that they will always be successful, especially if these programs do not mesh well with the social norms, values, and culture of the targeted communities. Policies need to be evaluated. As stated by Dr. Griffin Rodgers (Director of NIH’s NIDDK) and Dr. Francis Collins (Director of NIH), “….research is important to determine which of these well-intentioned policies and programs are working and for whom…. what seems reasonable to try is not always effective and may even have unanticipated effects,” (The Next Generation of Obesity Research: No Time To Waste, 2012). Hence, we strongly believe that policies and programs addressing obesity should be evaluated with the most rigorous evidence possible. To date, despite many efforts at the local, national, and international levels, there is little evidence that existing programs are both effective and sustainable.

      Unfortunately, many claims about the demonstrated efficacy of various programs are exaggerated as, for example, discussed in a talk found at this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSLWt_g6JOs). Such exaggerations and distortions can lead to misperceptions of causal relations and misunderstood beliefs about the effectiveness of programs that target those identified causal relationships. In consequence, ‘myths’ seem to abound about obesity and its treatment and prevention (see “Myths, Presumptions and Factors about Obesity).

      NIH-funded Short Courses organized by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Nutrition Obesity Research Center can be found at this link (http://www.norc.uab.edu/courses/shortcourse) and brings together multidisciplinary researchers in clinical and public health settings to discuss recent evidence addressing prevention and intervention strategies in obesity research, as well as fostering a community of scientists in which resources, techniques, and methods to evaluate scientific evidence are shared among the participants. Individuals interested in evaluating the effects of policies may find these courses useful. 

       

      Best Regards,

      David B. Allison

      Anarina L. Murillo