The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has announced funding for a three-year project at The University of Western Ontario aimed at finding ways to prevent adult obesity.
Sisira Sarma, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, will lead an interdisciplinary team of researchers to investigate the modifiable risk factors of adult obesity. This is one of 18 London projects to receive new CIHR funding totaling more than $9.55 million.
“Obesity is an important risk factor for a number of chronic diseases creating a substantial financial burden on our health care system,” says Sarma. “And while the consequences of obesity are well known, policy makers are grappling with effective and cost-efficient methods to prevent it.”
Sarma and his colleagues have received $281,000 to investigate modifiable risk factors for adult obesity. They will look at the impact of the built environment together with physical activity, diet, family characteristics and socio-economic variables.
Statistics Canada found 23 per cent of Canadians aged 18 or older, an estimated 5.5 million adults, had a body mass index of 30 or more, indicating that they were obese (2004 Canadian Community Health Survey). Another 8.6 million, or 36 per cent, were overweight.
Recent estimates suggest obesity costs the Canadian health care system about $4.3 billion annually; $1.6 billion in direct costs, such as hospital care, physician services, and drugs, and $2.7 billion in indirect costs, such as lost earnings due to illness, and premature death. These costs will only grow as the obesity trend continues.
The goal of the project is to produce evidence-based research to help understand the extent to which Canadians gain weight by their own individual choices, as well as a range of environmental factors. The findings will serve as guidelines for decision-makers to adopt effective prevention strategies to combat obesity and for efficient allocation of scarce resources.
The co-investigators are Martha Karen Campbell, Yun-Hee Choi, Jason Gilliland and Gregory Zaric.