Message From the Director
Obesity has become a global epidemic. The prevalence of overweight and obesity keeps rising in many countries worldwide, affecting over 30% of adults and many children. For example, in the largest industrialized country, the United States, 2/3 of adults and 1/3 of children are overweight or obese, and the rates are much higher in some racial/ethnic groups. In China, the largest developing country and the world’s second largest economy, about 1/3 of adults and 1/6 of children are overweight or obese.
The global obesity epidemic is a result of the complex interplay of many factors, ranging from biology, genetic factors, behaviors, urban planning, national and regional economies, food and health policies, to global trade. It requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders ranging from citizens to government agencies, and use a systems approach, both to control the epidemic and to address many related adverse health- and financial consequences.
Our System-oriented Global Childhood Obesity Intervention Program (SGCOIP) is committed to: (1) promote innovative research on childhood obesity; (2) facilitate collaboration and integration of resources and expertise in childhood obesity research from different fields and from different parts of the world; (3) develop novel, effective and sustainable solutions to prevent childhood obesity; and (4) train young researchers, health professionals and future leaders in the childhood obesity field.
SGCOIP is a global collaborative program built upon our prior efforts and ongoing programs, including NIH-funded research projects in the United States and other countries. It helps bring together researchers, health professionals and other partners in the childhood obesity and related research fields worldwide to fight the global obesity epidemic and other lifestyle-related, non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, heart disease, and diabetes, taking a systems-science guided approach to research, training and intervention programs.
My colleagues and collaborators throughout the world and I have been committed to this mission for a number of years. Before joining UB-SUNY, I worked as an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine for nine years, where I as the principle investigator led a University-wide effort that secured a $16 million U54 center grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project involved faculty from five schools at Hopkins and collaborators from multiple countries. With the NIH award plus institutional support, we established a Global Center of Excellence dedicated to studying the causes and prevention of childhood obesity, and to support research and training in the field.
At SGCOIP, we have a committed interdisciplinary research team with expertise in multiple fields, including nutrition, epidemiology, biostatistics, medicine, health economics, engineering, systems science, environmental health, urban planning, sociology, basic science, and genetics.
We look forward to working with you, whether researchers, health professionals, trainees, parents or children, and no matter where you are located. You are welcome to use the resources of our program, some of which are described on our website, and return frequently to see updates. We hope that you will benefit, both for your work and for your and your family’s health. We welcome you to join our effort to fight the global obesity epidemic!
Youfa Wang, M.D., M.S., Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology, Environmental Health and Pediatrics