One of the major challenges facing modern (and modernizing) societies is an epidemic-scale increase in mortality and morbidity directly caused by obesity. Childhood obesity is on the rise. Just in the United States, 25 million children and teens are obese or overweight. In the last 20 years, obesity levels have doubled and are still rising at an alarming rate. Not only does this place an enormous economic strain on health systems caused by the resulting burden of diseases such as type-2 diabetes, heart problems, osteoarthritis, and sleep apnea, it impacts other aspects of society. Childhood obesity imposes an extraordinary additional burden on society because it interferes with normal schooling, shortens life expectancies, limits future job opportunities and employability, reduces work and school productivity, and creates social stigmatization that can last a lifetime.

One of the pillars of a healthy, functional, and civil society are healthy, functional individuals.  Perhaps even more importantly, we may be facing the first generation in American history that will live shorter lives than their parents. 

Governments around the world and the United Nations have been wrestling with understanding the causes, prevention and treatment of obesity. Not only are they looking at the direct health issues, but they are looking to understand the psycho-social drivers of childhood obesity - i.e. is this entirely a problem of our industrialized food system and food advertising that some believe promotes overeating?  Or is this a medical problem, or the reflection of a behavioral problem that may have far reaching societal consequences? The causes and prevention of obesity are complex and multifactorial. We require a deep understanding to arrive at policy that will be effective. Bad policy will only serve to compound this important challenge.

To help ensure that national and international policymaking in obesity accurately reflects our best scientific understanding of the causes of obesity and accurately captures strategies that will effectively reduce obesity, National Peace Foundation has undertaken a far-reaching program of analysis and characterization of the world's scientific literature to provide policymakers with the best possible information and understandings.

Begun in 2004, the purpose of the Collaborative Obesity Research Evaluation Team (CORET) is to help create a competent base of foundation information in support of obesity-related health policy and legislation. NPF has established systematic criteria for characterizing published research in the field of obesity, and then coordinating reviews of published, peer-reviewed literature based upon these criteria. CORET is based at the University of California at Davis (UCD) and is co-chaired by Dr. Judith S. Stern of UC, Davis, and Dr. George A. Bray of Pennington Biomedical Research Center.