IOTF History

Over the past decade, the International Obesity TaskForce - the policy and advocacy ‘think tank’ arm of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO)- has established a formidable reputation as one of the most authoritative sources of information and novel strategic thinking on the issue, and has become a powerful influence in defining how the world should address the obesity challenge.

Originally convened in 1996 to prepare the first report by research scientists worldwide on the global epidemic of obesity, its work contributed to an expert consultation held by WHO in Geneva with IOTF support, which resulted in the publication of the WHO Technical Report 894 Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. This first WHO publication on obesity was a landmark in raising the issue onto the world’s public health agenda.

IOTF also contributed to the follow up WHO report 916 on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases which articulated the  new and broad-ranging strategies across all realms of society needed to develop new environments which would be more conducive to preventing obesity and improving nutritional health.

IOTF has been a central voice in many further efforts to create awareness and action on obesity at global, regional and national levels such the Global Burden of Disease reports, and the World Bank report, Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development. A full list of the projects and reports that IOTF has been involved in are available here.

The IOTF, which came under the umbrella of IASO in June 1997 and formally merged five years later, continues to work across the globe as obesity and it health burdens keep rising, especially in low and middle income countries.