Liggins Professor to lead global strategy to end child obesity

World Health Organization Director General Dr Margaret Chan this week named the Liggins Institute’s founding director Professor Sir Peter Gluckman as co-chair of a commission tasked with ending childhood obesity.

The Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity will report early next year on which approaches and interventions are likely to be most effective in different global contexts. Co-chairing the Commission is internationally recognised cardiologist, public health specialist and former Pakistan Minister of Science and Education, Dr Sania Nishtar. The Commission will take a multidisciplinary approach considering science and evidence alongside implementation, monitoring and accountability.

Sir Peter will receive advice from a working group of experts representing disciplines including epidemiology, paediatrics, nutrition, developmental origins, health literacy, marketing to children, health economics, physical activity and gestational diabetes. They will advise on the prevalence, consequences and economic impact of childhood obesity; evidence on its prevention and treatment and policies needed to support implementation in different settings.

Alongside this, the Working Group on Implementation, Monitoring and Accountability will develop a framework for implementing the recommendations of the Science and Evidence Group.

 Sir Peter says, “Childhood obesity is an escalating concern globally. It is a precursor to the major issues of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in adulthood and itself is associated with other problems in childhood including allergic disorders and impaired learning. It is expected that a significant reduction in relative obesity, not just obvious obesity, will have both major direct and indirect benefits to the health of populations.”

The Liggins Institute has for many years been at the forefront of research and thought leadership on how events in early life affect childhood development and influence adult health. They have shown that poor maternal nutrition prior to conception can set offspring on a developmental pathway leading towards an obese body type.

Liggins Institute Director, Paediatric Endocrinologist Professor Wayne welcomed the Commission’s establishment and congratulated Sir Peter on his appointment. “Childhood obesity is arguably one of the greatest preventable threats to global health at this time,” he said.

“It is a significant concern amongst child health practitioners in New Zealand and undoubtedly contributes to the increasing incidence of diabetes and other childhood diseases.  It is imperative that we consider not only the biological origins of obesity but also the social and economic environments that support and perpetuate it.”

The 2012/13 New Zealand Health Survey reports 11% of children aged 2-14 as obese, with a further 22% over-weight, while 31% of adults over 15 years are obese and another 34% over-weight.

“We look forward to contributing any evidence and understanding that might assist the Commission on formulating its recommendations,” adds Cutfield.

Further information

WHO plan of action of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity

Distinguished Professor Sir Peter Gluckman

Sir Peter is Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Biology at the University of Auckland and Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

His research at the Liggins Institute focuses on what gives us a healthy start to life: understanding how a baby’s environment between conception and birth determines its childhood development and life-long health - and the impact that this knowledge has for individuals and whole populations.

His research has won him numerous awards and international recognition including Fellowship of the Commonwealth’s most prestigious scientific organisation, The Royal Society (London). He is the only New Zealander elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science (USA) and the Academy of Medical Sciences of Great Britain.

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Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor