Try this brain teaser: what problem is being addressed by these recommendations recently made by an expert panel on the subject [edited only to remove identifying elements]?
LEAD AND COMMIT
Government, industry, communities, schools, and families should demonstrate leadership and commitment by mobilizing the resources required to identify, implement, evaluate, and disseminate effective policies and interventions.
EVALUATE POLICIES AND PROGRAMS
Policy makers, program planners, program implementers, and other interested stakeholders - within and across relevant sectors - should evaluate all efforts, strengthen the evaluation capacity, and develop quality interventions that take into account diverse perspectives, that use culturally relevant approaches, and that meet the needs of diverse populations and contexts.
MONITOR PROGRESS
Government, industry, communities, schools, and families should expand or develop relevant surveillance and monitoring systems and, as applicable, should engage in research to examine the impact of policies, interventions, and actions on relevant outcomes, paying particular attention to the unique needs of diverse groups and high-risk populations.
DISSEMINATE PROMISING PRACTICES
Government, industry, communities, schools, and families should foster information-sharing activities and disseminate evaluation and research findings through diverse communication channels and media to actively promote the use and scaling up of effective policies and interventions.
The next time you're asked for recommendations to address a pressing public health problem (preferably one verging on an epidemic), feel free to use these. They were good enough for the IOM Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity.
Seriously, is this the best they can offer?
Rather than laying out a vision or a least guidance on what we can be doing with what we DO know, they opted instead to present "13 shoulds" for next steps. Albert Ellis, the father of Rational Emotive Therapy, has a classic line: Shoulds are just another way to sh*t on yourself. In other words, not a very rational set of premises on which to base a war on obesity.
What can we expect from the Convergence Project? Please, not 'more research is needed!'
My ideas (keep scrolling down).
Technorati Tags: Childhood Obesity, Convergence Project, IOM
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