EDITORIAL

The International Journal of Pediatric Obesity

L. A. BAUR

Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, IJPO Office, Clinical School, The Children’s Hospital at

Westmead, Westmead NSW, Australia

The World Health Organization describes obesity as

‘‘one of today’s most blatantly visible �/ yet most

neglected �/ public health problems’’ and goes on to

state that ‘‘an escalating global epidemic of over-

weight and obesity �/ ‘globesity’ �/ is taking over

many parts of the world’’ (1). These are strong and

emotive words indeed, but not at all surprising to

those who work in the clinical or population health

spheres in many countries �/ nor, indeed, to the

casual observer walking along the streets of those

very same countries.

Once the apparent preserve of middle-aged adults

living in highly westernised countries, obesity now

affects children and young people, including those

from developing countries and countries undergoing

economic transition. A 2004 report to the World

Health Organization by the International Obesity

TaskForce estimated that 10% of children world-

wide were overweight or obese: children in North

America and Europe were most obviously affected,

but rising prevalence rates were seen in many other

areas of the world, including countries in Asia, the

Middle-East and Central and South America (2).

There is also increasing recognition that obesity in

children and young people is associated with a range

of immediate and long-term health consequences

(2). Obesity may thus be considered one of the most

common chronic diseases affecting the pediatric

age-group in many countries.

The childhood obesity epidemic highlights a

number of questions including those that relate to:

How do genetic and environmental factors interact

to influence an individual’s predisposition to obesity?

What are the causal pathways leading to obesity, and

the potential points of intervention? What are the

health consequences of obesity �/ what are their

mechanisms of development and the best strategies

for treatment? What treatment options are available

for overweight and obese children and young people,

and how can these be delivered in the most resource-

effective manner? What options are available to

prevent the development, or decrease the rising

prevalence, of childhood obesity in a given commu-

nity? What are the factors promoting childhood

obesity in countries undergoing nutrition transition

�/ how can these be anticipated and managed in

order to minimise the problem of childhood obesity?

These and many other issues are being tackled in a

range of large- and small-scale research studies. The

increased research activity in the area of pediatric

obesity is reflected in the number of published

articles on this topic in the medical literature. For

example, a simple search on MEDLINE using the

combined terms ‘‘child’’ and ‘‘obesity’’ shows a

moderate increase in published articles over the final

three decades of the last century: from 636 in the

years 1970�/1974; to 783 in 1980�/1984, to 938 in

1990�/1994. And then, in the years 2000�/2004, a

more than three-fold increase occurs: 3 374. Clearly

there has been a recent explosion of research activity

in this area. It is in this context that the Publications

Committee of the International Association for the

Study of Obesity (3) has established the International

Journal of Pediatric Obesity.

The Editorial Board wants the Journal to be

a major source of information for researchers and

practitioners dealing with the broad issue of

Correspondence: (Prof) Louise A Baur, IJPO Office, Clinical School, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145,

Australia. Fax: �/61 2 9845 3389. IJPO E-mail: ijpo@chw.edu.au. Personal E-mail: louiseb3@chw.edu.au

International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. 2006; 1: 5�/6

(Received 23 January 2006)

ISSN Print 1747-7166 ISSN Online 1747-7174 # 2006 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/17477160600586655

child and adolescent obesity. Thus, we welcome

manuscripts dealing with such subjects as:

. Genetic, molecular, biochemical and physiolo-

gical aspects of obesity �/ basic, applied and

clinical studies

. Metabolic consequences of child and adoles-

cent obesity

. Epidemiological and population-based studies

of child and adolescent overweight and obesity

. Measurement and diagnostic issues in assessing

child and adolescent adiposity, physical activity

and nutrition

. Clinical management of overweight and obese

children and adolescents

. Co-morbidities linked to child and adolescent

obesity �/ mechanisms, assessment, and treat-

ment

. Life-cycle factors e.g., familial, intrauterine and

developmental aspects of child and adolescent

obesity

. Nutrition security and the ‘‘double burden’’ of

obesity and malnutrition

. Health promotion strategies around the issues

of obesity, nutrition and physical activity in

children and adolescents

. Community and public health measures to

prevent overweight and obesity in children and

adolescents.

This wide range of topics is by no means

exhaustive. Inevitably, the Journal will develop its

own flavour and ‘‘brand’’ over the years ahead.

However, our aim is for the Journal to always

provide an inter-disciplinary forum for high quality

research in pediatric obesity.

Who are the members of the Editorial Board? The

Associate Editors, Drs Michael Goran, Angelo

Pietrobelli, John Reilly and Kate Steinbeck, bring

to their roles a wealth of expertise in many aspects of

obesity as it relates to children and young people;

importantly, they also have considerable editorial

experience. In addition, we have an extremely strong

Editorial Board, with representatives from five con-

tinents who, together, have considerable knowledge

and skill in numerous areas of paediatric obesity,

including basic science, clinical aspects, population

health, health promotion, treatment, prevention,

advocacy, epidemiology, statistics, the measurement

of diet, physical activity, body composition and the

obesogenic environment, and much more. I thank

the Associate Editors and members of the Editorial

Board for the work and thought that they have

already put into establishing the Journal , and I look

forward to working with them on future issues.

This is the first issue of the Journal , which will

initially be published on a quarterly basis. We hope

that you will both read and subscribe to the Journal ,

and we look forward to receiving your manuscript

submissions in the months and years ahead.

References

1. World Health Organization. Nutrition. Available from: http://

www.who.int/nut/

2. Lobstein T, Baur L, Uauy R (eds). Obesity in children and

young people: A crisis in public health. Report of the

International Obesity TaskForce Childhood Obesity Working

Group. Obesity Reviews. 2004;5:4�/104.

3. International Association for the Study of Obesity. Available

from: http://www.iaso.org/

6 L.A. Baur