Weight Management Research to Practice Series: Working with multi-disciplinary teams to translate scientific evidence for different audiences

As the weight control literature expands rapidly, many public health professionals struggle to stay abreast of the science. In response to requests for a user-friendly summary of the evidence supporting key topics in weight management by state and local partners working in the area of obesity prevention and control, the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (DNPA) at CDC has developed the Weight Management Research to Practice (R2P) series as a creative way to address this need. Each installment in the series is developed by a collaborative multi-disciplinary workgroup consisting of DNPA behavioral scientists, epidemiologists, and communication specialists. This presentation will provide an overview of the development of the Weight Management R2P series, and will describe the process by which scientists and communication specialists work together to summarize and translate scientific evidence for different audiences, including public health professionals and the general public. Lessons learned about fostering productive multi-disciplinary workgroups that include scientists, communication and health education experts will be discussed. In addition, an overview of currently available and forthcoming R2P products will be presented. Topics include the connection between weight and fruit and vegetable consumption, portion size, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, and breastfeeding. Forthcoming topics include the relationship between weight and energy density and eating foods prepared away from home.