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Greetings!
Happy New Year!
NAASO wishes everyone a healthy, happy and
prosperous 2004 with special congratulations to our
many members at LSU and USC - we can't wait to get
you all together in one room.
But the real news story of 2003 was obesity according
to several newswatch organizations. Consequently,
NAASO provided more services and
programs to more people in 2003 than ever before - -
read more about our tremendous growth later in this
newsletter.
The start of a new year is a good time to revisit and re-
evaluate goals and objectives. We hope you'll agree
that membership in NAASO is more important than
ever
before. We also hope you'll show your continued
support by participating in some of our many
programs.
This issue launches a new feature, a bi-monthly column
by the NAASO President, Barbara Corkey, PhD. This
column will alternate with our bi-monthly case studies
feature. This month, it's Barbara's turn.
| Education Programs |
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National Obesity/Diabetes
Symposia
Only 10 More Sessions
Scheduled
NAASO's National Obesity Diabetes curriculum continues
in 2004 with our series of live seminars
"Understanding
and Treating Obesity." We will be visiting 10 more
cities in the next few weeks - starting in the Northeast
before a brief swing out through the Midwest and into
California. Check
our Website for details and dates regarding the city
nearest you.
Your support of this program is very important. NAASO
views this event as critical to the fulfillment of our
mission to bring science to the treatment of obesity.
Please let your colleagues and anyone else you might
think of who can benefit from hearing the latest in
obesity treatment know about this course. Not only
will
they receive 1.5
category 1
CME credits, but they will have an outstanding
networking
opportunity
and dinner too.
More to come
Look for more
comprehensive
and significant programs
in 2004! More than 70 education events are already
scheduled for the next several months. We'll keep you
up-to-date on each and every new event. Bookmark
NAASO's homepage to keep updated on all new
programs!
For More Information on NAASO's Education Programs »
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| Growing Membership, Journal and Websites |
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Membership
If you are not already a
NAASO member, now is a great
time to join! NAASO's membership has increased
20%
over this time last year. A large vital
membership is important to our research, advocacy and
education programs. More members mean a greater
voice and stronger presence. If you are a member and
haven't already
renewed your membership, renew online
today!
Obesity Research
Obesity Research published more pages in 2003
than ever before - a 19% increase over the previous
year. Manuscript submissions are up 25% over last
year.
Look for Obesity Research in the
news
this
year! Under the direction of Barbara Corkey, PhD,
Editor-in-Chief, with assistance from the presigious PR
firm of
Burns McClellan, New York, Obesity Research will
issue monthly press releases on hot upcoming
articles.
Obesity Research Online
To better serve our readers, Obesity
Research online now has the capability of delivering
even greater supplemental information, not available in
the print version. We'll let you know when
supplemental data is available!
NAASO's Website
NAASO's Website has enjoyed a great increase in
traffic
and first time
visitors. The Website's most active day ever was
October 14, 2003, with 75,506 hits! Our site, www.naaso.org,
registered more than 1/2 million hits during October
2003
alone!
Please visit us often. We update information on
a continuing
basis and are working to expand our "fact sheet"
section and improve ListServ functions.
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| Legislative News |
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FDA Advises Consumers to Stop Ephedra
Use
On December 30, 2003, HHS Secretary Tommy G.
Thompson announced that the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has issued a consumer alert on
the safety of dietary supplements containing ephedra
and has notified manufacturers of its intent to publish a
final rule on dietary supplements containing ephedrine
alkaloids. The rule will state that dietary supplements
containing ephedrine alkaloids present an unreasonable
risk of illness or injury. The rule would have the effect
of banning the sale of dietary supplements containing
ephedrine alkaloids when it becomes effective, 60 days
following publication.
NAASO lobbied in support of legislation calling for the
ban of ephedra in late 2002 and early 2003. Our
efforts
were spearheaded by Steve Heymsfield, MD, and
George L. Blackburn, MD, PhD, - congratulations to
both
of them. FDA
first proposed a rule on dietary supplements containing
ephedra in 1997 including requiring a warning statement
on
these products. The FDA modified the original
proposed rule in 2000, and last February announced
a series of comprehensive actions designed to protect
Americans from the potentially serious risks of dietary
supplements containing ephedra.
US Senate Passes IMPACT Act
Legislation endorsed by NAASO, "Improved Nutrition
and Physical Activity Act," or IMPACT Act; a
comprehensive bill aimed at reducing obesity,
particularly among children and adolescents was passed
by the Senate on December 3, 2003.
One provision of the legislation is to instruct the
Secretary of Health and Human Services to report on
what research has been conducted on obesity
treatment and prevention, what has been learned from
this research, and what future research should be
conducted.
Corresponding legislation was introduced in the House
of Representatives earlier this year. The bill still awaits
House debate.
NAASO has been involved with this bill since the start
when our Executive Director, Edward Bernstein, met
with Senator Frist and his staff prior to their drafting
the
legislation. Several NAASO members then testified
before a Senate Committee considering the bill. Finally,
NAASO
played a major role in getting the National Alliance
for Nutrition and Activity's endorsement of the bill.
Read the Press Releases »
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| Regional Notes |
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Paul Boisvert reports from Canada
The CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and
Diabetes announced a Strategic Working Alliance
Team (SWATeam) to develop Canada on the Move:
Step One (CMSO). More than 800,000 pedometers will
be distributed to the Canadian public beginning
December 2003. An extensive marketing campaign
linked to the pedometers will be launched December 12,
2003, continuing into January 2004.
more from Canada Institutes of Health
Research
Dr. Boisvert reports the results of the strategic
initiative in Excellence, Innovation and Advancement
in the Study of Obesity and Healthy Body Weight;
Pilot
Project
Grants-2003 Competition, Operating Grant
Competition - 2003 and
New Emerging Team Program results. Included are the
names
of the principal investigiators and Project
Titles.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) and the CIHR's
Institutes of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes
(INMD); Cancer Research (ICR); Gender and Health
(IGH); and Human Development and Child and Youth
Health (IHDCYH) are pleased to announce a strategic
initiative in health research training in obesity and
chronic disease titled Target Obesity.
This new program will offer several awards: New
Investigator Awards and Postdoctoral Fellowships and
Doctoral Research Awards.
Judith Stern reports from the West Coast
from Oregon
John Purnell reports that The Oregon Health &
Science University (OHSU) has a new institute, The
Center for the Study of Weight Regulation and
Associated Disorders. Its mission is to bring together
investigators in obesity and cachexia from the Oregon
National Primate Center, The Vollum Institute, the
Kaiser Center for Health Research and OHSU. A new
research facility will be built on the OHSU campus.
from Washington
David E. Cummings reports that he has a new
postdoctoral fellow, Diana Williams, who
recently finished her PhD in the laboratory of Harvey
Grill and Joel Kaplan at U. Penn. David Cumming's
work was also featured on "60 Minutes" in August
2003. He has also done a presentation to the
Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus (a group of
~125 US Senators & Congressmen and their staff).
David, I hope they all now realize how important it is to
support research in obesity.
Read complete list of Regional Notes »
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| Message from the President |
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A call
to action
Barbara E. Corkey, PhD
Your help is needed. We are at a
critical time in the
effort to stop the obesity epidemic. The commitment
of everyone is needed to address impediments in the
way of our progress. We need to expand our
membership since there are fewer than 2000 of us in
the only organization devoted to research into
obesity.
We need to encourage the formation of
lay
organizations in our communities to fight obesity since
there are no effective national fund-raising
organizations to promote obesity research, no effective
national organizations to protect the obese from
bigotry or marketing of ineffective books, devices,
foods and drugs. Indeed, billions of dollars are spent
by the obese in North America: They are motivated and
willing.
To help them in their undertakings,
ways must
be found to reward commercial endeavors that are
healthy. Importantly, the will must be found to
severely punish the promotion of misleading
information. Public health initiatives are essential to
protect all individuals from an unhealthy environment.
Toward that end, initiatives that work to promote
healthy lifestyle choices and healthy work environments
must be identified. Commitment is needed from
scientists, clinicians, educators and government. More
resources should be allocated to nutrition research,
more support must be found to reimburse both medical
and surgical obesity treatment. Let's make 2004 a
turning point in our fight against the obesity
epidemic.
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