For many children, the day-to-day realities of pandemic life—virtual school, social distancing, screen time, and stress—have added up to steep weight gain. The number of children diagnosed with overweight or obesity has shot up, and racial and ethnic gaps have widened. But new insights into the genetic causes of obesity point to potential therapeutic solutions. And trials of behavioral interventions suggest promising approaches to prevent or treat childhood obesity. This panel brings together medical, scientific, and policy experts whose insights offer fresh hope for curbing the obesity epidemic.

MODERATOR
Julia Belluz
Senior Health Correspondent, Vox (@juliaoftoronto)

SPEAKERS
William Dietz
Chair of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness; Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University. (@STOPobesity)

Sadaf Farooqi
Wellcome Principal Research Fellow; Professor of Metabolism and Medicine, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge. (@farooqi_lab)

Steven Gortmaker
Professor of the Practice of Health Sociology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity (HPRC), Director of the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (@HarvardPRC)

Saba Khan
Director, Food Pharmacies at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); Attending physician, Division of General Pediatrics at CHOP; Assistant professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Faculty scholar, CHOP Policy Lab. (@PolicyLabCHOP)

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