Studies Seek Root Causes Of Obesity In U.S.

A new $5 million study being conducted at NIH is designed to find out whether we get fat because we overeat or because of the foods we are eating. The Energy Balance Consortium Study is one of the first to be backed by a nonprofit whose goal is to finance meticulous tests of previously overlooked hypotheses. The Nutrition Science Initiative (or NuSI) is sponsoring three studies focused on the root causes of obesity and its related diseases. NuSI has hopes to raise $190 million over three years to fund follow-on studies whose overall goal is to cut obesity in the U.S. by more than half — and diabetes by 75 percent — in less than 15 years.