GEBN makes meaningful contributions to improve public health

Apr 1 2015

As the scientific community gathers at Experimental Biology 2015, the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) is poised to make meaningful contributions to the broader community's efforts to improve public health. GEBN is a network of scientists from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania who have banded together to further the understanding of the regulation of energy utilization by the body (energy balance) and apply this understanding to develop novel approaches to health and wellness.

GEBN, formed in Dec. 2014, has garnered support from nearly 150 scholars, practitioners and other experts in 18 countries. The leadership group will convene in Denver in August for an inaugural face-to-face meeting.

"A better understanding of the science of energy balance will lead to the development of innovative new ways to prevent and reduce obesity," said James O. Hill, PhD, co-founder of GEBN, University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. "Toward that end, GEBN scientists are committed to promoting energy balance research, communicating energy balance knowledge, training new scientists and facilitating innovation in reducing obesity."

According to another GEBN co-founder, Steven Blair, professor of exercise science and epidemiology at the University of South Carolina, "GEBN is the first organization to use the energy balance model as a framework for thinking about changing current systems and policies to improve health. Our model highlights the need to measure both energy expenditure and intake when assessing body weight changes."

GEBN will convene a "think, do tank" to serve as a catalyst to explore new approaches to solving the growing global problem of obesity and related chronic diseases in 2016.

A number of scientific societies and advocacy organizations including American Society for Nutrition (ASN), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Personal Health Investment Today America (PHITAmerica) have expressed interest in collaborating with GEBN.

Members of GEBN believe that finding workable solutions to correcting energy imbalance will be achieved faster by working with all sectors of society, and GEBN is committed to promoting effective public-private partnerships.