IOM Urges Collective Action Against Obesity

She said "It’s going to take a collective effort," and that "it’s not just about food, it’s not just about physical activity, it’s about the entire environment and what we can do."

The panel advocated a number of strategies to get to the goals outlined in the recommendations. Some examples include:

• Institute physical activity requirements for child care and early-childhood education programs.

• Find ways to provide tax credits or financing arrangements to encourage retailers and distributors of healthy food to go into so-called food deserts, those areas that are underserved.

• Require all restaurants to list calorie counts on menus and food boards.

• Require that all students from kindergarten through 12th grade have 60 minutes of physical activity a day at school.

The IOM panel’s report is only part of a joint effort to raise the nation’s awareness of the obesity problem and to seek potential solutions. The effort was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Cable channel HBO approached the IOM about making a documentary series about obesity. The two-part film, called "The Weight of the Nation," was produced in conjunction with the IOM, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health and will be shown on May 14 and 15.

A companion book (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012) was cowritten by IOM executive officer Judith Salerno; John Hoffman, the documentary’s executive producer; and Alexandra Moss, the documentary’s coproducer.