The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity report, Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?, examines the progress made by obesity prevention initiatives in the United States over the past two years. The report builds on the IOM's 2005 report, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, which was a congressionally mandated study that provided a blueprint to guide concerted actions for many stakeholders—including government, industry, media, communities, schools, and families—to collectively respond to the growing obesity epidemic in children and youth. 

To extend the reach and impact of the Health in the Balance report, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation requested in 2005 that the IOM convene an expert committee to examine the nation’s progress in addressing obesity in children and youth. This report, Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up? presents the committee’s conclusions and recommendations. The report emphasizes a call to action for key stakeholders and sectors to lead and commit to childhood obesity prevention, evaluate all policies and programs, monitor their progress, and widely disseminate promising practices.

Recommendations are provided for:

• Government
• Industry and Media
• Communities
• Schools
• Families

Committee members participating in the public release:

Jeffrey P. Koplan (chair), Vice President, Academic Health Affairs, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Emory University, Atlanta
Douglas B. Kamerow, Chief Scientist, Health, Social and Economics Research, RTI International, Washington, DC
Marshall W. Kreuter, Associate Professor, Public Health Institute, College of Health and Human Sciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta
Eduardo J. Sanchez, Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin
Antronette (Toni) Yancey, Associate Professor and Director, department of health services, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles