Collaborative Obesity Modeling Network (COMnet) is a project to connect leading childhood obesity modelers. Groups use a variety of statistical models to study trends in obesity and the impact of various causes of the epidemic in multiple countries (including England, Australia, Canada, and the United States). The team from Harvard and Columbia Universities (Steve Gortmaker and Y. Claire Wang) have focused on modeling changes in obesity rates in the U.S., and have estimated the “energy gap” responsible for changes in weight distribution among children and teens.

Funders: COMnet is currently funded by the National Institute for Child Health & Human Development and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; COMnet was founded with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NIH (Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research).

For more information, contact Steven Gortmaker.

Publications