In November 2007, Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) formed a partnership with The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services' Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance based on the mutual interest to identify and address systemic and cultural barriers that are failing to adequately support individual successes.
The George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services was established in July 1997, bringing together three long-standing university programs in the Schools of Medicine, Business and Education. Today, more than 900 students from nearly every state in the United States and more than 35 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate and doctoral-level degrees in public health. The George Washington University Medical Center is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary academic health center that has consistently provided high-quality medical care in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for 176 years.
The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance is a diverse group of consumer, provider, labor, business, health insurance, and quality-of-care organizations striving to change how we perceive and approach the problems of obesity, overweight, and weight-related health risks, including heart disease and diabetes. CRI President Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS serves as the Health and Wellness Chairperson for the STOP Obesity Alliance Steering Committee.
Nearly two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Obesity is the second highest cause of preventable death in the United States. The STOP Obesity Alliance's goal is to help reverse America's rising trend in obesity and related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers by:
- Re-defining success as sustained weight loss based on health rather than only by societal norms;
- Identifying, recommending, and promoting innovations in community, employer, and health care delivery and financing systems;
- Identifying and breaking down cultural and systemic biases around obesity; and
- Highlighting research-based initiatives and technologies to improve prevention and care.
In November 2007, the Alliance's research team at The George Washington University (GW) released a report, Re-Visioning Success: How Stigma Perceptions of Treatment and Definitions of Success Impact Obesity and Weight Management in America, that identified barriers to reducing obesity in America. The report also examines the disconnect between scientific data demonstrating the negative health and economic results of overweight and obesity, and public and private efforts to combat the rise in obesity.
The Alliance announced in November 2007 that it would release specific recommendations that take an innovative and practical approach to the systems that impact obesity. The Alliance's policy recommendations, released in January 2008, focus on four key areas where both the private and public sectors can impact the nation's ongoing struggle, which include redefining success, encouraging innovation and best practices in obesity treatment, addressing and reducing stigma as a barrier to obesity treatment, and broadening the research agenda for obesity.
In May 2008, the Alliance announced that their collaborative research with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago indicated that employees and employers agree that the workplace is an appropriate setting for responding to weight management issues. Responding to this research, two Alliance Steering Committee members, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), partnered to examine an obesity benefit designed by the DMAA that may be piloted by SEIU employees. This effort supports a STOP Obesity Alliance policy recommendation for innovative approaches to preventing and managing overweight and obesity.
In December 2008, the Alliance announced the release of the Obesity GPS (Guide for Policy and Program Solutions). This leading-edge navigation tool is designed to guide public- and private-sector decision makers as they work to reduce obesity, overweight, and weight-related health risks in the United States. The Obesity GPS will help these leaders develop, analyze, and evaluate research initiatives, specific health interventions, and policies that may impact health care and health care professionals.
In 2009, the Alliance accelerated outreach to private and public sector decision makers that are grappling with the high costs of weight-related health conditions, adding eight new Associate Members. In addition, the Alliance released Review of Obesity Related Legislation & Federal Programs, a research report created by the George Washington University research team for the STOP Obesity Alliance. The report provides an overview of federally funded programs created with obesity prevention as the main objective, as well as relevant proposed federal legislation submitted in the 110th and 111th Congressional sessions.
In December 2009, the Alliance responded to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ call for public comment on the proposed Healthy People 2020. The Alliance recommended that, due to the persistence and prevalence of obesity, it become a key topic area of the document rather than a subcategory within Nutrition. The Alliance also made suggestions for objectives in Healthy People 2020 that reflect the Alliance’s areas of focus: 1) redefine successful weight loss, 2) encourage innovation and multi-factorial interventions, 3) reduce stigma, and 4) broaden and intensify obesity research.
In March 2010, the STOP Obesity Alliance research team at The George Washington University released Improving Obesity Management in Adult Primary Care, a white paper based on outcomes of an expert roundtable that examined innovative approaches to help address obesity in the primary care setting.
Recognizing that influential role that women play in their families’ health, the Alliance established the Task Force on Women in July 2010. CRI is among the nearly 20 organizations that comprise the STOP Obesity Alliance Task Force on Women, which aims to promote discussion among decision makes to identify strategies that will improve the health of overweight and obese American women and their families.
Potential next steps: In 2010, CRI will continue working in partnership with the STOP Obesity Alliance on initiatives that include ongoing research about obesity-related interactions between health care professionals and patients, and providing relevant data and recommendations to policy and decision makers.
Partnership Resources:
- Click here to visit The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services website.
- Click here to visit the STOP Obesity Alliance website.
2010
- Click here to read the Statement of Agreement issued by the STOP Obesity Alliance Task Force on Women.
- Click here to read the Executive Summary of Improving Obesity Management in Adult Primary Care.
- Click here to read the white paper Improving Obesity Management in Adult Primary Care.
- Click here to view results of the survey of primary care providers and patients.
- Click here to view the webcast of the March 16 Primary Care Briefing.
2009
- Click here to read the “U.S. Turns Blind Eye to Obesity as Health Costs Soar” an op-ed by CRI President Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., and fellow Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. The op-ed appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper on September 29, 2009.
- Click here to read about the Alliance’s release of four recommendations for health reform on September 9, in Washington, D.C.
- Click here to read about the Alliance's co-sponsorship of National Employee Wellness Month with Virgin HealthMiles to raise awareness about the benefits of workplace wellness and to educate business leaders and employees about how they can create healthier and more physically active workplace communities.
- Click here to read about the STOP Obesity Alliance event to be held September 9 in Washington, D.C. Dr. Carmona and 16th U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., will join Alliance Director Christine Ferguson and leading experts on obesity, public health, and medicine for an in-depth analysis and discussion.
- Click here to read the report, created by the George Washington University research team, that provides an overview of federally funded programs created with obesity prevention as the main objective, as well as relevant proposed federal legislation submitted in the 110th and 111th Congressional sessions.
- Click here to read the April 27 press release about STOP Obesity Alliance’s eight new Associate Members who will participate in the Alliance’s efforts to increase awareness of and progress on managing and preventing obesity.
- Click here to view: the Alliance's new blog, "Weighing In." Read "The Threat of Obesity: Our Nation's Health, Safety and Security at Risk," posted by Dr. Carmona.
- Click here to view: CRI Hosts Keynote Presentation at the 2009 Integrated Care Summit.
2008
- Click here for details on the release of the Alliance's Obesity GPS (Guide for Policy and Program Solutions).
- Click here to read the press release about the Alliance's Obesity GPS (Guide for Policy and Program Solutions).
- Click here to read "Balancing the Scales in Obesity Prevention and Treatment," an article published in the AAMC Reporter and authored by Dr. Carmona.
- Click here to read the May 22, 2008 STOP Obesity Alliance press release announcing findings from a national survey on employer concerns about obesity and Alliance members' new efforts to address obesity in the workplace.
- Click here to read "Shifting the Scales: Creating Solutions to Overcome and Prevent Obesity," an article published in the Group Practice Journal and authored by Dr. Carmona.
- Click here to read the press release about policy recommendations issued by the Alliance to address America's obesity epidemic.
- Click here to read the Alliance recommendations, issued January 2008.
2007
- Click here to read the full report: Re-Visioning Success: How Stigma Perceptions of Treatment and Definitions of Success Impact Obesity and Weight Management in America.
- Click here to view highlights from Dr. Carmona's speech at the November 2, 2007 STOP Obesity Alliance special event.
