NIH Obesity Research Task Force Updates Plans, But Research Dollars Should Follow

The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Obesity Research Task Force released a new Strategic Plan for Obesity Research that was seven years in the making.  Both the Task Force and Strategic Plan serve similar purposes of accelerating progress in obesity research, coordinating research activities across the NIH and targeting efforts based on areas of scientific opportunity and challenge.  Considering both the increased rate of obesity and improvements in science and technology, the updated Strategic Plan is a much needed step for obesity.  But it must be complemented with the funding that will allow for real change to take place in obesity prevention and intervention.

Several troubling trends around obesity have developed since the initial publication of the strategic plan.  Increasing prevalence and cost of obesity and weight-related disease (such as diabetes and heart disease), the amount of vitriolic language in the media–particularly the public’s response to articles, and an increasing willingness by employers to consider imposing penalties for employees who do not meet certain weight loss effort criteria all point to an environment ripe for greater understanding of the factors that contribute to obesity.

Obesity is not as simple as unwillingness to diet or exercise, a fact that the revised Strategic Plan recognizes in several of its core themes.  Here are the overarching themes guiding NIH’s research:

• Discover fundamental biologic processes that regulate body weight and influence behavior
• Understand the factors that contribute to obesity and its consequences
• Design and test to new interventions for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight
• Evaluate promising strategies for obesity prevention and treatment in real-world settings and diverse populations
• Harness technology and tools to advance obesity research and improve healthcare delivery
• Facilitate integration of research results into community programs and medical practice

While the Obesity Research Task Force is taking an innovative direction as it considers the underlying biologic causes and environmental factors contributing to obesity, we must consider these efforts in context: while the NIH spent a combined $971 million on obesity research in FY 2010, compare that to the $1.2 billion spent on diabetes research, $2.5 billion spent on cardiovascular research, or $6.6 billion spent on cancer research.  To put this in perspective, that means that for every dollar spent on obesity research, more than two are spent on cardiovascular research and nearly seven are spent on cancer.  This is especially striking given that obesity is linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers as well – the distribution of research funding should address obesity as a precursor to these conditions.

With obesity affecting over a third of all Americans, it is critical not just to have a plan in place, but to support that plan with the research it will take to meet the need.

Anna Stoto, Research Assistant for the STOP Obesity Alliance at The George Washington University, Department of Health Policy