Value of the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research
-Jim Sallis, Co-Director of PARC
The National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) has been a leading force in the field since 2009. A successful example of public-private partnership among the main federal and foundation funders of health research, NCCOR has coordinated funding of studies, development of resources, capacity building, and dissemination of results. As presented in new papers in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, NCCOR has many accomplishments that have advanced research and provided assistance to practitioners.
I have had the pleasure of serving on the National Expert Scientific Panel since the beginning of NCCOR, so I am not a disinterested observer. However, I have been impressed by the level of collaboration among the funders, their openness to input, and the creativity of their projects. I was pleased to provide a commentary on the impact of NCCOR over the first eight years. It is likely that many people actively involved in childhood obesity work are not aware of the full range of NCCOR’s projects and resources. I commend this special section to everyone looking for solutions to the childhood obesity epidemic. Many of the resources will also be relevant to anyone working on physical activity and healthy eating in any population.