The Institute of Medicine (IOM), through the Food and Nutrition Board, and with support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is undertaking a study to design a dissemination effort that will assess progress in obesity prevention actions and promote the implementation of the findings and recommendations for the IOM report, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance.   

In 2005, the IOM committee  is organizing three regional meetings in the Mid-west, South, and western United States to galvanize obesity prevention efforts of local, state, and national decision-makers, community and school leaders, grassroots organizations, and industry including the food, beverage, restaurant, leisure, and entertainment in­dustries.

In collaboration with the Kansas Health Foundation (KHF), the IOM held the study's first regional symposium in Wichita, Kansas on June 27-28, 2005. This first symposium focused on the IOM report rec­ommendations for schools and stakeholders in the school setting to ex­plore how to create a healthy school environment.   

This brief summary highlights the recurring themes for accelerating change and moving forward with obesity prevention efforts that emerged from the symposium: forging strategic partnerships; empowering local schools and communities; educating stakeholders; evaluating obesity prevention efforts; documenting the benefits of obesity prevention; innovating to address barriers; using a systems approach; and developing a long-term strategic plan.  

The findings of this IOM summary, along with two other forthcoming symposia summaries that will focus on steps taken by communities and industry, and a more detailed discussion of insights and regional examples will be incorporated in the committee's final report that will be released in 2006.