Childhood Obesity Center Seeking Research Proposals

The Global Center for Childhood Obesity at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is seeking to fund innovative pilot and feasibility projects that examine environmental mechanisms or policy changes related to the childhood obesity epidemic. Projects should use systems science concepts to tackle issues that will potentially inform the development or confirmation of community- or population-based interventions. The application process is open to investigators in the U.S. and globally.

The Johns Hopkins Global Center for Childhood Obesity expects to fund up to three projects in the range of $20,000 to $30,000 each. Maximum project duration will be 12 months if existing data is used, or 24 months if original data will be collected. Projects can begin as early as April 16, 2012, and must begin by May 16, 2012.

All proposals must be received by March 30, 2012. An informational teleconference is scheduled for February 28, 2012, at 9 a.m. ET. For full details and application information, visit the Global Center for Childhood Obesity online at http://www.jhgcco.org.

The Global Center for Childhood Obesity was established in November of 2011 with a $16 million U54 cooperative agreement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Center studies the drivers of the childhood obesity epidemic and environmental and policy interventions. Based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Center works with scientists from many disciplines in collaboration with the NIH and 15 other institutions, including faculty from five Johns Hopkins schools, namely Whiting School of Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Nursing and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

According to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. In 2008, 1.5 billion adults aged 20 and older were overweight or obese and 65 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight. Nearly 43 million children under age 5 were overweight in 2010. According to the CDC, childhood obesity in the U.S. has more than tripled in the last 30 years. In 2008, more than one-third of American children and adolescents were overweight or obese, which greatly increases the risk of obesity-related illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Prevention of obesity in children is a key to fighting the global epidemic.

Media contact for Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Natalie Wood-Wright at 410-614-6029 or nwoodwri@jhsph.edu.