(June 20, 2006) Donnelly to direct new KU-Children's Mercy obesity research, treatment and public health center

Joseph E. Donnelly, director of the Center for Physical Activity and Weight Managment, one of the Life Span Institute's 12 affiliated research centers, will lead a major effort to reduce childhood obesity from a new facility in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, at one of the premier pediatric hospitals in the country.

The center is a partnership between KU and Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and to date has attracted support from the Hall Family Foundation and the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, among others.

Reseachers and clinicians from KU, KUMC, Children's Mercy, the University of Missouri-Kansas City have coalesced around the center to mount a multi-pronged effort to address the obesity epidemic, which now afflicts 30 percent of U.S. children and two-thirds of U.S. adults.

The Center for Physical Activity, Nutrition and Weight Management will enroll 300 children and 500 adults in clinical settings in 3- to 6-month research programs by fall 2009 and more than 30,000 children in school and home-based programs in Kansas and Missouri by 2011.

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