American Academy of Pediatrics

The American Academy of Pediatrics dedicates its efforts and resources to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

Perspective
Active Healthy Living: Prevention of Childhood Obesity through Increased Physical Activity

Creating active school communities is an ideal way to ensure that children and youth adopt active, healthy lifestyles. Physicians can be instrumental in the development of active school communities by advocating for policy changes at the community, state, and national levels that support healthy nutrition, reducing sedentary time, and increasing physical activity levels while providing education and health supervision about regular physical activity and reduced sedentary time to families in their practices.

Among AAPs advocacy recommendations are:

• Social marketing that promotes increased physical activity


• The appropriate allocation of funding for quality research in the prevention of childhood obesity


• A school curriculum that teaches children and youth the health benefits of regular physical activity


• Comprehensive community sport and recreation programs that allow for community and school facilities to be open after hours and make physical activities available to all children and youth at reasonable costs


• The reinstatement of compulsory, quality, daily PE classes in all schools (kindergarten through grade 12) taught by qualified, trained educators


• The reduction of environmental barriers to an active lifestyle through the construction of safe recreational facilities, parks, playgrounds, bicycle paths, sidewalks and crosswalks


• Calculate and plot BMI once a year in all children and adolescents and use change in BMI to identify rate of excessive weight gain relative to linear growth


• Encourage parents and caregivers to promote healthy eating patterns by offering nutritious snacks, such as vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy foods, and whole grains.

American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association provides diabetes research, information and advocacy and is dedicated to preventing and curing diabetes and to improving the lives of all people affected by diabetes

Perspective: Fighting Obesity through Education

ADA's obesity initiatives go hand-in-hand with their mission of funding research, publishing scientific findings, providing information and other services to people with diabetes, their families, health professionals and the public. The Association is also actively involved in advocating for scientific research and for the rights of people with diabetes.

ADA recognizes that most people who get Type 2 diabetes are overweight, and losing weight is often the first step in controlling Type 2 diabetes. Losing weight and keeping it off is one of the most difficult health challenges. Nutrition researchers are uncovering the best ways to lose weight, and documenting the many benefits of a healthy weight. ADA provides links to newly conducted research in this area.

ADA also provides tools to establish if one is at risk of becoming obese, weight loss tip sheets, and provides information to create a healthy living plan, including healthy eating and physical activity.

American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency that provides cardiovascular research, information and advocacy and whose mission is to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Perspective: Fighting Obesity through Education and Advocacy

AHA recognizes obesity as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attack. Also, even when there are no adverse effects on the known risk factors, obesity by itself increases risk of heart disease. It also harms more than just the heart and blood vessel system. It's a major cause of gallstones and can worsen degenerative joint disease.

AHA is fighting obesity through their work in support of greater funding for both the National Institute for Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also publishes various educational materials focused on managing weight, physical activity and tips for a healthy heart.

AHA is also a member of various coalitions that are focused on promoting physical activity, healthy school meals, a combination of good nutrition and activity, and time for children to play.

Overall, AHA’s work in this area is predicated on advancing the mission of the AHA and, in particular, to achieving the current strategic goal: reduction of coronary artery disease, stroke and risk 25% by 2010. Pillars of both prevention and risk reduction include diet and physical activity.

America's Health Insurance Plans

The voice of America's health insurers, America's Health Insurance Plans aims to provide a unified voice for the health care financing industry, to expand access to high quality, cost effective health care to all Americans, and to ensure Americans' financial security through robust insurance markets, product flexibility and innovation, and an abundance of consumer choice.

Perspective: Obesity Initiative

Since 2003, the AHIP Obesity Initiative has supported member health insurance plans' obesity prevention and treatment efforts. AHIP's ongoing series of forums, programs, grants, educational audio conferences, and roundtables brings health plans and other stakeholders together to discuss the challenges of obesity, review the evidence, develop effective strategies, and share models that work.

For the past several years, the topics of overweight and obesity, as well as prevention and wellness initiatives related to healthy lifestyles and behavior change, have been ongoing focus areas and play an integral role in the curriculum of AHIP's annual conferences and educational programs, including the Medical Leadership Forum, National Policy Forum, and AHIP's Institute.

AHIP will hold its 4th annual obesity audio conference Screening for Obesity and Related Risk Factors to Improve Health in fall 2007, followed in summer 2008 with Motivating Healthy Behaviors: Clinical, Health Plan and Consumer Perspectives.

AHIP has also developed an obesity Web site containing the latest news and resources on the science and strategies surrounding obesity prevention and treatment.

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA)

The American Medical Group Association represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated health care delivery systems and advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of health care delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing, benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care.

Perspective: Early Identification and Treatment of Risk Factors

AMGA has recently launched a research project to better understand current practices in early identification and treatment of risk factors that are known to increase patients' risk of:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Obesity
• Elevated blood pressure
• Low HDL-C
• Elevated blood glucose levels.

Based on recent research published in peer-reviewed journals, it is understood that the growth in Medicare spending is largely due to treatment of these health conditions. The rise in the number of patients needing treatment for obesity and other serious risk factors, highlights the need to develop models and standards of care designed to address the clinical problems facing patients with multiple complex morbidities.

AMGA assembled an expert panel from medical groups and industry to assist in developing a survey to help us learn about medical groups’ efforts to develop a business case that will allow them to adequately treat these individuals as care is needed. A report on the results of this survey will be available to survey participants and other interested parties in early September. Based on theses results, AMGA intends to develop resources and tools to assist medical groups in implementing best practices to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with risk factors including obesity.

Canyon Ranch Institute

Canyon Ranch Institute catalyzes the possibility of optimal health for all people by translating the best practices of Canyon Ranch and its partners to help educate, inspire, and empower every person to prevent disease and embrace a life of wellness.

Perspective: Fighting Obesity through Prevention and Partnerships

The problem of preventable chronic disease is growing worldwide, placing a tremendous burden on individuals, families, and communities. Obesity, lack of physical activity, and exposure to tobacco smoke increase the risk for many of the most serious chronic diseases in the United States, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) recognizes that prevention and management of overweight and obesity are essential to reducing the burden of chronic disease and ultimately to improving the health and wellness of all people worldwide.

CRI develops peer partnerships with organizations such as the STOP Obesity Alliance that have a fundamental commitment to, and focus on, creating opportunities for disease prevention and wellness in communities, particularly those communities that have traditionally been underserved. Through outreach, collaboration, translation, and evaluation, CRI works with its partners to help:

• Accelerate a cultural transformation to redefine individual and community health in terms of disease prevention rather than disease treatment;
• Integrate and translate innovative and evidence-based wellness best practices into the fundamental knowledge and social base of every community;
• Eliminate health disparities by ensuring that all people have the ability and opportunity to embrace a life of wellness.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO)

The CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services.CDC's top organizational components include the Office of the Director, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and six Coordinating Centers/Offices.

CDC seeks to accomplish its mission by working with partners throughout the nation and the world to:

• monitor health,
• detect and investigate health problems,
• conduct research to enhance prevention,
• develop and advocate sound public health policies,
• implement prevention strategies,
• promote healthy behaviors,
• foster safe and healthful environments,
• provide leadership and training.

CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) takes a public health approach to address the role of nutrition and physical activity in improving the public's health and preventing and controlling chronic diseases. The scope of DNPAO activities includes epidemiological and behavioral research, surveillance, training and education, intervention development, health promotion and leadership, policy and environmental change, communication and social marketing, and partnership development.

DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance

DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance is the voice of the disease management and care coordination community and the nation's only association effectively representing all stakeholders in chronic disease care. DMAA promotes population health improvement through disease and care management by various tactics including standardizing definitions and outcome measures and advocating the principles and benefits of disease and care management before state and federal government entities.

Perspective: Obesity with Co-Morbidities Project

To raise awareness and improve understanding of the role disease management can play in the treatment and management of obesity with co-morbid conditions, DMAA has launched its Obesity with Co-Morbidities project.

This initiative, conducted by the DMAA Obesity Workgroup, seeks to define and expand understanding of co-morbid obesity; lead development and encourage adoption of best practices for managing the condition; and promote health outcomes research. In May 2006, the project produced a definition of obesity with co-morbidities--the first of its kind in chronic disease care. The definition provides a foundation for all other project activities.

The project also has produced an extensive literature review conducted by DMAA and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The review provides a summary of current literature describing various clinical, financial and other aspects of assessment and management options for obesity and co-morbid conditions. The findings of the literature review are scheduled for publication in DMAA's peer-reviewed journal, Disease Management.

Other planned work products of the initiative include a collection of article submissions to Disease Management; and creation of an online resource center. DMAA also hosts an annual Obesity Management Summit in conjunction with its annual meeting, the Disease Management Leadership Forum.

National Business Group on Health

The National Business Group on Health is the national voice of large employers dedicated to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to the nation's most important health care issues.

Perspective: The Institute on the Cost and Health Effects of Obesity

Consistent with its mission to find solutions to health and systemic health care cost challenges, the National Business Group on Health launched the Institute on the Costs and Health Effects of Obesity in 2003, spearheading a national obesity initiative. This initiative brings together some of the world's leading corporations, health plans and federal health agencies to serve as solutions and information resources for employers and creates proactive prevention strategies in order to champion healthy weight in the workplace.

The Institute on the Costs and Health Effects of Obesity is structured for a corporate audience and produces comprehensive tools for employers to estimate the cost of obesity, to open up avenues for employee communication on healthy weight and to design employer sponsored wellness programs that meet HIPPA requirements. Not only does the initiative focus on obesity, but it also focuses on the chronic conditions and diseases that obesity causes such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Since 2003 an Obesity Summit has been held annually in addition to other business group forums and conferences which give members the opportunity to share their experiences and proven solutions. The Institute also published issue briefs written by experts on pertinent weight-related topics. Tool kits have also been developed to help employers effectively and sensitively address obesity issues.

The Institute has also created web-based seminars on weight-related topics including Promoting Healthy Dining, Drug Therapy in the Management of Overweight and Employer Best Practices. There are also e-newsletters sent out monthly, which are designed to share new materials and re-communicate existing tools.

National Committee for Quality Assurance

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is dedicated to improving health care quality and has helped to build consensus around important health care quality issues by working with large employers, policymakers, doctors, patients and health plans to decide what's important, how to measure it, and how to promote improvement.

Perspective: Development of HEDIS Measures of Obesity

National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has conducted a thorough review of existing evidence for both childhood and adult obesity as a starting point for the identification of potential measures of obesity for inclusion in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), the nation’s most widely used set of health care quality measures. The identification of potential measures is an important step in fostering benchmarking and quality improvement in the area of obesity assessment and management.

NCQA is currently drafting measure specifications, work-ups and field-test research protocols for two potential measures that assess the extent to which members in health plans that report HEDIS have their body mass index (BMI) measured in a given year.

In adult obesity, efforts will explore measures of treatment and management as well as assessment of related cardiovascular risk factors. Given the dearth of evidence of the effectiveness of weight loss programs, and the high morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease in those who are overweight or obese, early measures may relate to the identification and control of CV risk factors.

NCQA is currently assessing open questions surrounding these measures, and is in the process of recruiting for field tests to take place later this year. NCQA, along with expert advisory panels, will review the results of the field tests in the fourth quarter of 2007 and present recommendations to its Committee on Performance Measurement in January 2008 for including the measures in the 2008 HEDIS public comment period; such measures could potentially be included in HEDIS 2009.

National Quality Forum

National Quality Forum works to improve the quality of American health care by setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.

The Obesity Society

The Obesity Society is the leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity and promotes research, education and advocacy to better understand, prevent and treat obesity and improve the lives of those affected.

Perspective: Prevention, Treatment and Advocacy

The Obesity Society (formerly known as the North American Society for the Study of Obesity) is comprised of approximately 2,000 researchers and clinicians specializing in the study, prevention and treatment of obesity. The Society publishes the leading peer-reviewed journal in the field, Obesity, and conducts the largest, most comprehensive annual scientific meeting in the field. The Society conducts active educational programs and maintains several websites including Obesity OnLine which provides CME credits for participants. The Society provides grant support to new investigators in the field.

From the advocacy perspective, the Society has incorporated the American Obesity Association (AOA) and continues its advocacy work currently working with the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Society is currently developing a program to credential physicians with expertise in the treatment of obesity and working with a coalition designing a program to establish a non-physician certified obesity educator credential.

The Society is also conducting a forum scheduled for September 2007 for presidential candidates to discuss what their administration would do to address the obesity epidemic and is planning an initiative to provide educational programs on the prevention and treatment of obesity in community health centers.

The Reality Coalition

The Reality Coalition is a group of esteemed experts on obesity, nutrition, diabetes and healthcare policy who share the common goal of advancing an agenda for realistic approaches to weight loss to achieve improved public health.

Perspective: Advancing National Weight-Loss Dialogue

The Coalition strives to increase:

• Understanding that "help not hype" is needed to minimize the impact of unsubstantiated claims for weight loss products that meet no reasonable scientific standards.
• Recognition of the importance of gradual weight loss and prevention of weight gain achieved through diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes.
• Realization of the significant health benefits associated with modest weight loss.

The organization's effort began in 2006 with support by an educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. In 2008 the Coalition has expanded their efforts by inviting business leaders, private, public, professional and non-profit groups to join in their efforts to focus attention on the rising cost of obesity and its impact on the well-being of working Americans.

Service Employees International Union

The Service Employees International Union, an organization of more than 1.8 million members, SEIU is dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.

Trust for America's Health

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority. The organizational focus of TFAH is on prevention, protection and communities.

Perspective: Fighting Obesity Through Educating the Public/Policy-Makers

TFAH produces three annual reports on obesity, emergency health preparedness and public health funding, along with reports on key issues in public health ranging from pandemic preparedness to birth defects.

The obesity report, "F as in Fat," focuses on American obesity statistics and government initiatives to combat obesity. The latest report found that twenty-two states experienced an increase in obesity for the second year in a row and that no states decreased. The yearly report was first published in 2004 and includes TFAH's suggestions for combating obesity.

Another project that is focused on health care in America is the "A Healthier America Project," which tries to help create a vision and agenda for protecting the health of families and communities all around the nation.