Applications for the position of Editor, Obesity are being accepted until March 1, 2007. By that date, applicants should submit a letter indicating interest in the editor's position; a vision statement relative to the Journal's future, and a current curriculum vitae. Nominations are also welcomed.

The successful applicant will succeed the current editor, Barbara Corkey, PhD. Dr. Corkey will be completing her term in December 31, 2007. The position will begin July 1, 2007 to allow for a transition to full editorial responsibility on January 1, 2008.

Over the past five years, the number of new submissions to the journal has steadily increased each year, as has its impact factor. The Society seeks a person who clearly demonstrates outstanding scholarly leadership and administrative effectiveness to further position Obesity as the preeminent publication in the field. Applicants must have a strong record in the field of obesity research. Preference will be given to applicants who possess: a clear vision of the journal's future; an admirable record of research and scholarly publications in obesity and associated areas; a working knowledge of both journal publication strategies and emerging information technologies; proven leadership strengths and ample personal commitment and time to fulfill the range of editorial responsibilities.

Click here for a detailed description of the responsibilities of the editor-in chief.

Address all correspondence and inquiries to Gary Foster, PhD, Chair of the Editor Search Committee. All materials must be submitted electronically.

The February issue of Obesity contains a report of a study being used to support a new beverage, Enviga. The beverage was developed by Coca-Cola Company and Nestle SA.

The article is authored by Servane Rudelle of Lausanne University in Switzerland and colleagues at Purdue University and the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland. It reports an experiment with 31 subjects who for three days consumed a beverage containing green tea catechins, caffeine, and calcium. The beverage increased 24-hour energy expenditure in these subjects by 4.6%, or approximately 106 calories. The contributions of the different beverage components were not distinguished. The experiment failed to demonstrate the mixture of ingredients increased fat oxidation. See Rudelle, S; Ferruzzi, MG; Cristiani, I et al: "Effect of a Thermogenic Beverage on 24-Hour Energy Metabolism in Humans," Obesity, 2007; 15:349-55.

The study made no weight loss claims for Enviga, the Coca-Cola Company product, and was not reviewed to determine the veracity of such a claim or claims. According to Eric Ravussin, PhD, president of The Obesity Society and an expert in human metabolism, "It should be kept in mind that this was a small sample demonstrating a very small effect. Understanding human metabolism is a complex scientific question involving genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors in addition to age, race and gender. Far more extensive studies are needed before any claim for efficacy in human weight management can or should be made on the basis of this study."

On February 7th, the Food and Drug Administration approved Alli, an over-the-counter version of orlistat (trade name Xenical). Alli, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, will be available in June. It is a 60mg version of Xenical, which has been available as a prescription product for several years. Xenical, at 120mg, will continue to be available to patients needing a higher dose and who are under a physician's care. Prescription Xenical is made by Roche. Obesity Society President Eric Ravussin was quoted on the front page of USA Today indicating that the product was safe and effective. GlaxoSmithKline's educational efforts include a paperback book on weight loss; part of the proceeds of the book's sale will go to The Obesity Society. The society has received other support from GlaxoSmithKline.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled "Developing Products for Weight Management." The intent of this new guideline is to provide clear advice to industry interested in developing weight-management products. It revises the 1996 "Guidance for the Clinical Evaluation of Weight-Control Drugs" and includes recommendations for developing products for weight management in pediatric patients and patients with medication-induced weight gain, and for developing combinations of weight- management products.

FDA guidances describe the agency's current thinking on various topics and are recommendations, not regulation.

Written or electronic comments on the draft guidance must be submitted not later than 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Single copies of the document are available from the Division of Drug Information (HFD-240), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD. 20857. Copies of the guidance document can also be found on the FDA Web site.

It is well known that West Virginia has one of the highest obesity rates in the United States. Now, its Medicaid program has decided to do something about it. Up to 75,000 West Virginians will soon be eligible for free weight loss courses through Weight Watchers, Inc. via the state Medicaid program and UniCare, the state's largest Medicaid provider. UniCare's Medicaid clients who obtain a physician's referral and meet a specific BMI threshold will be eligible for up to 16 weeks of Weight Watchers courses. West Virginia First Lady Gayle Manchin has been an advocate for the program.

Tennessee conducts Weight Watchers pilot
Last year TennCare, the Tennessee Medicaid provider, completed a pilot program for 1,400 Medicaid recipients who paid nominal fees to participate in Weight Watchers. According to TennCare, the participants lost a total of more than 8,000 pounds.

Other Tennessee news
Also in Tennessee, the state's Blue Cross Blue Shield program has dropped a requirement that enrollees wanting bariatric surgery have to take an IQ test. The policy had provoked an outcry from the Obesity Action Coalition in Tampa, FL. It was unclear how many people were required to take the IQ test.

Days before the Administration's FY2008 budget was released, President George Bush met with corporate leaders to encourage child fitness and obesity prevention. The corporations represented included General Mills, the Advertising Council, Coca-Cola, DreamWorks, Univision, Kraft Foods, Kellogg, PepsiCo, Subway, McDonalds, and Nickelodeon.

According to the White House, the Administration spends more than $600 million annually to fight obesity, including grants to schools to implement school health index improvement plans, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the HealthierUS initiative, and US Department of Agriculture activities. This year the Administration proposes to:
• develop messaging partnerships with the entertainment, arts, and food and beverage industries;
• help schools implement local wellness policies;
• facilitate greater access to public parks;
• issue comprehensive physical activity guidelines; and
• promote the MyPyramid Food Guidance System.

The fine print of the President's budget told a more sobering story. Obesity research at the National Institutes of Health would actually go down from a high of $594 billion in FY06 to a projected $590 in FY08. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's overall budget would be cut by $162.6 billion dollars including a cut of $17.2 million from Steps to a HealthierUS. The Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity budget would see no change in its allocated $413.9 million. The Department of Agriculture is projecting an additional $7 million in its Agricultural Research Service program for childhood obesity prevention.

October 20-24, 2007
New Orleans

The Annual Meeting Program Committee thanks all those who submitted education session proposals. All proposals have been reviewed, a preliminary program is being developed, and notifications regarding the committee's decisions will be sent out soon.

Two important meeting changes
A new track has been added to the meeting: Clinical/Professional Practice. This track will feature programs for practicing physicians and other healthcare professionals. Sessions will focus on knowledge and competencies for improving the quality of care delivered to obese patients in their practices and improving patient outcomes.

The first session on Sunday, October 21, will be a plenary oral abstract session. The seven best abstracts from all those submitted will be featured in this first session on the first full day of the meeting.

Abstract submission dates announced
The abstract submission period for the 2007 scientific meeting will open on Wednesday, March 14 and close on Tuesday, May 22, 2007. Primary corresponding authors will be notified by the end of July as to whether or not their abstracts have been accepted.

Important notes concerning abstract submissions:

• There will be no late submission period this year! If you plan to submit abstract(s) for consideration, you must do so within the announced submission period.

• Abstract submissions in which one or more authors fail to disclose conflict of interest information will not be reviewed. There will be no exceptions to this committee decision.

Be sure to visit the Meeting Home Page for all Annual Scientific Meeting details as they become available!

News from the West
By Judith Stern

California
Melina B. Jampolis (Board Certified Internist and Physician Nutrition Specialist) published a new book called The No Time to Lose Diet. It is available in bookstores and on Amazon. She appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly on Friday, Jan. 12, discussing popular diets such as South Beach, Weight Watchers, Ornish, French Women, and Sonoma.

Marjorie R. Freedman (Assistant Professor, San Jose State University) reports: "thanks to a community benefit grant from Kaiser Permanente, San Jose, I have started 'Healthy San Jose State 2010' which aims to create a healthy campus environment for over 30,000 students, faculty and staff. The Healthy Campus Summit in March will present baseline data regarding eating and physical activity patterns collected from over 1400 upperclassman. Long term goals of the Healthy Campus Initiative include healthy vending, nutrition information for all foods sold or available on campus, an on-site farmer's market, a 'SJSU survivor' program aimed at students who live on campus but no longer eat in the dining commons, and a smoke-free campus."

Michael Swarbrick (Postdoc, University of California, Davis), from Peter Havel's lab, received a New Investigator Research Award from The Obesity Society for his research entitled "Metabolic Regulation of Leptin and Adiponectin by PDH Kinase Inhibition." The research focuses on silencing genes in fat cells to look at the mechanism of a synthesis of leptin and adiponectin. His ultimate goal is to find a new therapeutic target for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Judith S. Stern is chairing the Farm Bill Working Group for The American Society for Nutrition. Their top legislative priority is to ensure the Farm Bill reauthorization includes language that supports funding for nutrition research and nutrition monitoring.

Montana
Barbara J. Moore (President, Shape of America) is chairing the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Public Policy Committee. The committee has identified funding for nutrition research and nutrition monitoring as ASN's top legislative priorities for 2007. Also, Barbara has been appointed to a committee convened by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) that is considering the issue of food marketing to children and how it may relate to childhood obesity.

Oregon
Melinda M. Manore (Professor, Oregon State University) received a four-year USDA National Need Graduate Fellowship Program Training Grant titled, "Multidisciplinary Training in Nutrition and Physical Activity." She will use it to train three doctoral students in obesity prevention and related health problems.

Utah
Ted D. Adams (Cardiovascular Genetics Research, University of Utah) is presenting a talk on survival benefits of gastric bypass surgery during the Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium's (MISS) 7th Annual Meeting in Snowbird, Utah February 19-24.

Washington
An Overweight Prevention Initiative Forum was held in Seattle-King County with Adam Drewnowski (Director of Center for Public Health Nutrition and Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of Washington) as the co-organizer and Wendy Johnson-Taylor from NIDDK as a speaker. The theme of the forum focused on issues of healthy eating and active living in vulnerable communities. The event's goal was to bring together researchers and community groups to better adjust health problems in public communities. On March 2nd in Seattle, Poverty and Obesity Forum: Disparities in Diet and Health will be held, with Adam Drewnowski, Roland Sturm (Rand Corporation) and Laura Streichert (University of Washington Exploratory Center for Obesity Research) as the co-organizers. Leading researchers will join health practitioners, clinicians, community members, funders, and policy makers to address the challenges of obesity and its disparities.

News from the Midwest
By Melissa Nelson

Thomas Inge, MD, PhD, associate professor of surgery and pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati, is leading a pioneering multi-year, multi-center study on teens undergoing weight loss surgery. Other steering committee members of this Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) study include Drs. Mac Harmon (Birmingham, AL), Anita Courcoulas, (Pittsburgh, PA), Michael Helmrath (Houston, TX), Judy Bean (Director, Data Coordinating Center) and Mary Horlick, (Project Scientist, NIDDK). Based at Cincinnati Children's, Teen-LABS is the first and largest prospective study of adolescents who choose bariatric surgery. It is the teenage version of LABS, the nation's largest, most organized outcomes research study on adults who undergo bariatric surgery. For more information, visit Teen-LABS.