The obesity epidemic in children has defied a single solution for more than 30 years. A new collaboration of teaching, research and outreach from multiple University of Missouri disciplines is a new attack on the problem.
Mizzou’s MUNCH (MU Nutritional Center for Health), and the complementary MU Physical Activity and Wellness (MU PAW), is a joint effort by Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR); College of Human Environmental Science (HES); School of Medicine (SOM) and others. The plan is to merge research expertise in agriculture, medicine, food science, journalism, exercise, dietetics and other disciplines into a holistic approach to control obesity.
MUNCH a just-opened state-of-the-art facility where researchers can collaboratively look at the nutritional, societal, behavioral, financial and physical causes of obesity. With that knowledge, researchers will partner with MU Extension to develop teaching programming to help people make informed and healthy choices regarding food and physical activity.
“We’ve talked for years about the advantages of having agriculture, medicine and veterinary medicine on the same campus, yet we haven’t done as much as we could to realize those advantages,” says Chris Hardin, MUNCH director. “Combating childhood obesity will take a coordinated effort among many agents.”
Previous attempts to study and prevent obesity haven’t had big success because they only looked at one or two causes, Hardin said. These efforts may have had a positive impact in some ways, but did not address the multiple factors that cause kids and adults to become overweight and stay there. Teaming physicians, food scientists, nutritionists, behaviorists, exercise specialists and communicators will more fully identify all of the factors that combine to create obesity, and develop programs that more effectively improve public health.
Reviewed 2014-09-16