Featured Online Programs
Open Access Journals
The highest-impact journals for obesity research charge a pretty penny to read their articles, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some reputable open-access journals publishing solid research. Here are a few of the best.
Nutrition and Diabetes
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Perhaps no disease is more closely linked to obesity than type-2 diabetes. This high-impact journal looks at the latest hard science for understanding what we eat, our body weight, and disease.
Obesity Facts
Publisher: Karger
This free online journal publishes recent research mainly related to the medical side of obesity prevention and treatment, but also some nutritional and sociocultural studies.
Saudi Journal of Obesity
Publisher: Medknow
The official journal of the Saudi Arabia Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Medicine features some interesting research on the relationship between obesity and disease.
BMC Obesity
Publisher: BioMed Central
This online journal publishes freely available articles on all aspects of obesity prevention, reduction, and causes at the individual level.
OpenCourseWare
Why are so many people overweight in the developed world? Is it culture, backwards incentives, or genetics? Discover the best of what we know with these free course materials from the most prestigious universities.
The Psychology, Biology, and Politics of Food
Eating is the number one cause of obesity, and this amusing set of video lectures from Yale examines why people eat differently and how their bodies react.
Principles of Human Nutrition
These lectures and readings help you understand that it is not only how much you eat, but what you eat, that determines your weight and propensity for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Obesity Economics
This set of lectures looks at the economic reasons behind obesity, from public policies to individual incentives and decision making.
Food and Nutritional Policy
This collection of readings and lectures from Johns Hopkins examines how to address nutritional concerns at the community and policy level.
Research Organizations
With more and more children and millions of adults overweight in the United States, just about every major university conducts research into the causes and treatments of obesity. These are some of the largest federal and nonprofit research leaders.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
One of the largest public health research and philanthropic organizations in the U.S., the RWJF dedicated $500 million toward reversing childhood obesity in 2007.
National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research
This umbrella group brings together the nation’s largest obesity research organizations, the CDC, the NIH, the Department of Agriculture, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It seeks to address the obesity crisis in the United States.
NIH Obesity Research Task Force
Given the prevalence of obesity in the U.S., almost all 27 of the federal National Institutes of Health conduct and fund obesity research. It is the job of the Obesity Research Task Force to coordinate this effort.
The Scripps Research Institute
A leading biomedical research organization, this nonprofit conducts laboratory experiments with the goal of finding medicinal approaches to treating obesity.
RTI International
One of the world’s leading independent research institutes, RTI assists governments and organizations around the world with its research into the costs and approaches to obesity on a societal level.
Professional Organizations
Since over 200 million Americans are overweight or obese, public health professionals must organize to take on this challenge. These professional organizations help that happen.
The International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders
This group brings together doctors from around the globe specializing in surgical interventions for dangerously obese patients.
The American Association of Bariatric Counselors
This professional organization provides training and credentialing for educators and health professional tackling obesity every day.
World Obesity Federation
This umbrella organization brings together professional groups from each country, like the United States Obesity Society, to collaborate on obesity research and treatment.
American Society of Bariatric Physicians
The leading association for physicians specializing in treating obesity and its associated health conditions.
The Obesity Society
With over 2,000 members, this professional organization is committed to improving the quality of obesity research.
Public Awareness Organizations
Few things can help reduce the burden of disease on society more than proper nutrition. That is why these organizations promote healthy eating, for healthier communities in the long run.
CARE
A leading humanitarian organization, CARE works in 86 countries and supports 900 poverty reduction programs.
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
Being overweight or obese is hard enough on your health, and that is not factoring in the stigma and ridicule that comes with it. The NAAFA has been working since 1969 to reduce negative perceptions of overweight people.
NCSM: Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
With nearly one third of American children at risk of type-2 diabetes, the National College of Sports Medicine has designated September as the month to mobilize efforts locally and nationally.
National Institute for Children’s Healthcare Quality: Be Our Voice
With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this nonprofit organization mobilizes medical professionals and advocates for better public policy to combat childhood obesity.
President’s Council on Fitness, Sport, and Nutrition
With childhood and adult obesity costing the U.S. medical system billions of dollars, this federal initiative works through public and private partnerships to promote healthier eating and lifestyles.
Obesity Action Coalition
With more than 50,000 active members nationwide, this organization supports people struggling with obesity and promotes an understanding of obesity as a disease.
