Symposium on the Obesity Epidemic

This symposium, hosted by the Center for Childhood Health, addresses the global and local trends in childhood and adolescent obesity. It aims to explore the historical evolution of the epidemic, the underlying drivers, and potential strategies for prediction and prevention, with a focus on Denmark’s unique context. 

Key Themes: 

• Historical trends and predictions of future developments of obesity prevalence. 
• The heterogeneity of the epidemic across regions and populations. 
• Current knowledge gaps regarding the causes, drivers and progression of obesity. 

Purpose: 
The symposium seeks to advance understanding of the factors driving the obesity epidemic and identify actionable solutions to reverse or mitigate its development. It also aims to inspire future research and foster collaborations, potentially prioritizing efforts to address obesity within local populations.  

Programme:


09.00-09.15 Welcome
Morten K Grønbæk, Centre for Childhood Health, Denmark


09.15-09.45 Multi-decadal trends and dynamics of underweight, overweight and obesity
Majid Ezzati, Imperial College London, UK


09:45-10.15 Global, regional, and national prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity from 1990-2021, with forecasts to 2050
Susan Sawyer, University of Melbourne, Australia


10.15-10.45 Coffee break


10.45-11.15 Mathematical models of the obesity epidemic, predicting its future development
Diana Thomas, United States Military Academy at West Point, USA


11.15-11.45 Sociodemographic modelling of the drivers of the obesity epidemic
Alberto Palloni, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA and Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Spain


11.45-12.15 Methodological opportunities and challenges in identifying the drivers of the obesity epidemic
George Davey Smith, University of Bristol, UK


12.15-12.45 Panel discussion: Describing and analysing the obesity epidemic
Majid Ezzati, Diana Thomas, Alberto Pallon, and George Davey Smith


12.45-13.30 Lunch


13.30-14.00 Impacts of maternal diet on offspring obesity risk – its contribution to the obesity epidemic
John R Speakman, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenzhen, China, and University of Aberdeen, UK


14.00-14.30 Postulated Contributors to Secular Changes in Obesity Prevalence: Exploring strength of causal inference and modifiability on the roads less travelled
David B Allison, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, USA


14.30-15.00 Coffee break


15.00-15.30 Anthropological perspectives on population obesity
Stanley Ulijaszek, University of Oxford, UK


15.30-16.00 Emergence of the obesity epidemic in Denmark and elsewhere – reflections about its drivers.
Thorkild I.A. Sørensen, Copenhagen


16.00-16.45 Panel discussion: How do we get closer to modifiable drivers? 
John R Speakman, David B Allison, Stanley Ulijaszek, and Thorkild I.A. Sørensen


16.45-17.00 Concluding remarks and farewell
Morten K Grønbæk, Centre for Childhood Health

Chairs: Stine Schramm, Centre for Childhood Health, Janne Tolstrup, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark