Collaborating to find solutions for childhood obesity and related health issues

May/June 2025 | Volume 24 Number 3

Photo courtesy of Ayesha Sania A participant in Dr. Ayesha Sania's study of sleep and related health issues among Bangladeshi children.

Our world is experiencing a crisis: Childhood obesity is increasing at alarming rates across the globe. This matters because children with obesity are more likely than their normal weight peers to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression and other non-communicable diseases. As overweight children mature into adults, their risk of chronic illness (and premature death) also exceeds that of peers.

Fogarty funds research projects in the U.S. and abroad that aim to produce evidence-based interventions and develop innovative strategies to stem this tide of rising rates. Fogarty’s prevention efforts include convening researchers from the U.S. and Latin America to share and leverage existing knowledge, thus strengthening childhood health research capacity and accelerating U.S. innovation. Opportunities to learn through collaboration have already produced positive results. The U.S. Fogarty’s Global Health Reciprocal Innovation project implemented Colombia’s Open Streets program (Ciclovía), which promotes physical activity, in New Orleans, Atlanta, Los Angeles and the District of Columbia. And Fogarty’s Cross-Border Collaborative Awards on Childhood Obesity have provided training and mentorship to over 20 junior researchers, mostly in the U.S.

Read about two Fogarty-supported researchers—Dr. Ayesha Sania of Columbia University and Dr. Abby King of Stanford University—whose collaborative work in the areas of children's health aims to elucidate and prevent childhood obesity and related health issues.

Updated June 3, 2025

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