Obesity

“We’re looking for innovative ways to both treat and prevent obesity — including creating healthier environments and designing programs for whole families.”

David Arterburn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Senior Investigator
Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine

Research overview

“Obesity is the number-one health problem in the United States because it negatively affects our population’s health more than any other condition,” said Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Senior Investigator David Arterburn, MD, MPH. Kaiser Permanente Washington researchers are doing practical research to learn how doctors, patients, families, employers, and policymakers can best work together to prevent and treat obesity.

“We’re focusing on three ways to halt the obesity epidemic,” said Senior Investigator Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH. “We’re helping to change obesity-promoting environments, bringing evidence-based prevention and treatment programs into health care systems, and helping people develop lifelong healthy diet and activity habits.”

Kaiser Permanente Washington obesity research areas include:

reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity and healthy diet in various age groups, populations with chronic conditions, and families;
shared decision making to help patients find the best way to a healthy weight;
implementing health coaches in primary care to support behavior changes;
social networks that support lifestyle change programs;
relationships between medications and genetic factors in developing obesity;
health system, community, and national policies that address obesity;
relationships between obesity and depression, diabetes, and other conditions; and
long-term benefits and risks of bariatric (weight loss) surgery.

“Obesity is caused by many factors, so at Kaiser Permanente Washington, we’re working on many levels,” said Paula Lozano, MD, MPH, a senior investigator and Kaiser Permanente Washington’s assistant medical director for preventive care. “We’re improving health care to help people who are obese now. But since obesity is a societal problem, we’re also studying how to change our homes and workplaces and neighborhoods to create more healthy environments.”

Recent publications on Obesity

Liu CT, Monda KL, Taylor KC, Lange L, Demerath EW, Palmas W, Wojczynski MK, Ellis JC, Vitolins MZ, Liu S, Papanicolaou GJ, Irvin MR, Xue L, Griffin PJ, Nalls MA, Adeyemo A, Liu J, Li G, Ruiz-Narvaez EA, Chen WM, Chen F, Henderson BE, Millikan RC, Ambrosone CB, Strom SS, Guo X, Andrews JS, Sun YV, Mosley TH, Yanek LR, Shriner D, Haritunians T, Rotter JI, Speliotes EK, Smith M, Rosenberg L, Mychaleckyj J, Nayak U, Spruill I, Garvey WT, Pettaway C, Nyante S, Bandera EV, Britton AF, Zonderman AB, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Chen YD, Ding J, Lohman K, Kritchevsky SB, Zhao W, Peyser PA, Kardia SL, Kabagambe E, Broeckel U, Chen G, Zhou J, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Neuhouser ML, Rampersaud E, Psaty B, Kooperberg C, Manson JE, Kuller LH, Ochs-Balcom HM, Johnson KC, Sucheston L, Ordovas JM, Palmer JR, Haiman CA, McKnight B, Howard BV, Becker DM, Bielak LF, Liu Y, Allison MA, Grant SF, Burke GL, Patel SR, Schreiner PJ, Borecki IB, Evans MK, Taylor H, Sale MM, Howard V, Carlson CS, Rotimi CN, Cushman M, Harris TB, Reiner AP, Cupples LA, North KE, Fox CS. Genome-wide association of body fat distribution in African ancestry populations suggests new loci. PLoS Genet. 2013;9(8):e1003681. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003681. Epub 2013 Aug 15. PubMed

Arterburn D, Bogart A, Coleman KJ, Haneuse S, Selby J, Sherwood NE, Sidney S, Theis MK, Campos GM, McCulloch D, O'Connor P. Comparative effectiveness of bariatric surgery vs. nonsurgical treatment of type 2 diabetes among severely obese adults Obes Res Clin Pract. 2013 Jul-Aug;7(4):e235-320. doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2012.08.196. PubMed

Grow HM, Hsu C, Liu LL, Briner L, Jessen-Fiddick T, Lozano P, Saelens BE. Understanding family motivations and barriers to participation in community-based programs for overweight youth: one program model does not fit all. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2013 Jul-Aug;19(4):E1-E10. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e31825ceaf9. PubMed

Johnson DB, Cheadle A, Podrabsky M, Quinn E, MacDougall E, Cechovic K, Kovacs T, Lane C, Sitaker M, Chan N, Allen D. Advancing nutrition and obesity policy through cross-sector collaboration: The Local Farms - Healthy Kids Initiative in Washington State. J Hunger Environ Nutr. 2013;8(2):171-86. PubMed

Chen L, Juon HS, Lee S. Acculturation and BMI among Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese adults. J Community Health. 2012 Jun;37(3):539-46. doi: 10.1007/s10900-011-9476-1. PubMed