Evaluating progress of obesity prevention: What should we measure?

The Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention was charged with identifying and developing indicators that could be used at the national and community levels for measuring progress in obesity prevention. Indicators of progress were drawn from the 2012 IOM report, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention (APOP), as well as other currently and widely used indicator sources. In alignment with APOP, the focus was on indicators related to policy and environmental change, eating and physical activity behaviors, and weight outcomes and obesity, viewed through the lens of systems theory and elimination of health disparities. Indicators for both process (to evaluate intervention activities) and outcomes (to evaluate the impact of intervention activities) will be discussed. The presentation will highlight the benefits of using consistent and actionable measurement of progress in obesity prevention across settings and over time that could support both national and local evaluation efforts as well as facilitate comparisons across communities to document the relative effectiveness of policies and programs and to support efforts to identify ‘what works where'.