In light of the recent media attention to the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) we believe it is very important to clarify what GEBN is and for what it stands.  It is unfortunate the GEBN was characterized as a group that promotes physical activity at the expense of diet.  Nothing could be further from the truth and many GEBN members have devoted their extensive careers to explaining how and why the interaction of diet and physical activity impacts body weight.

GEBN is a forum for scientists with multiple points of view to discuss and debate what we know and what we don’t know about the science of energy balance.  The aim is to identify how to best apply what we know about this science to create more effective ways to prevent and reduce obesity and to identify key areas where more research is needed.  By engaging the food and physical inactivity industries (companies that market electronic devices, video games and other products that contribute to sedentary behavior) and public health practitioners, we can then apply this knowledge in the population.  GEBN welcomes any scientists and practitioners from the public or private sector who accept the principles of energy balance (i.e. that both diet and physical activity are important for obesity development and that understanding the interaction of diet and activity is a critical component of the public health effort to address obesity) to join the network.  GEBN is a network of independent scientists and practitioners, and evidenced-based debates and disagreements among members are encouraged.  GEBN hopes that through a focus on science, we can better connect  those studying the science of energy balance with scientists and practitioners who can use this knowledge to help people achieve healthier and happier lifestyles.

GEBN received unrestricted funding from The Coca Cola Company.  This means that the company gave the money to be used in any way GEBN wants to use it. This funding is not for research. Coca Cola has no input into the activities of GEBN.  GEBN is not about minimizing diet or even the role of sugar-sweetened beverages in development of obesity.  That said, GEBN believes that both the food and the physical inactivity industries can play roles in helping reduce obesity. 

GEBN Guiding Principles



1.      Both diet and physical activity are critically important for body weight regulation.  We need to use our understanding of how the two interact to develop more effective strategies to reduce obesity.

2.      Many aspects of diet can facilitate weight gain including diets high in sugar, high in fat and foods consumed in large portions.  Reducing sugar, fat and portion size are all strategies we need to use in reducing obesity.

3.      The current body of evidence tells us that the obesity epidemic cannot be solved by focusing on food alone. Unless we are able to increase physical activity in the population, we are unlikely to reduce obesity in a large proportion of people.

4.      Both the food industry and the physical activity industry have responsibility for6helping to reduce obesity and both need to devote resources and efforts toward this goal.  We are going to be more effective in changing diets if we work with the food industry and in reducing sedentary lifestyles if we work with the physical inactivity industry. We want to bring scientists and practitioners from many different disciplines -- including nutrition, exercise science, behavior change and public health -- together with scientists and key leaders from industry, using the framework of energy balance, to develop strategies for helping people achieve lifestyles that maximize health and happiness.

5.      We aim to create a forum to engage scientists with multiple points of view to debate and clarify what we know about the science of energy balance and to identify the important things we do not know.  We want to work with industry and with public health practitioners to apply this knowledge. 

6.      We encourage academics to work with industry in doing research and in developing interventions to reduce obesity.   These relationships should adhere to the guidelines for academic-industry interactions that have been developed and disseminated by several credible organizations such as the International Life Sciences Institute and The Obesity Society.

 

Questions raised by recent media attention:

 

 1.     Does the Global Energy Balance Network believe that physical activity is more important than diet for obesity?

Absolutely not.  If you are familiar with the science of energy balance, it is impossible to separate diet from physical activity.  Both are critical for the determination of body weight.

Any assertion that GEBN is a group that downplays diet is incorrect.  That is especially true if that  assertion is based on a personal comment in a video featuring Dr. Steven Blair, . Dr. Blair’s personal views as expressed in the video do not accurately reflect the position of GEBN and for that reason he asked us to remove the video from our website and replace it with a personal statement clarifying his views on energy balance.

The official position of GEBN, adopted by our steering committee, and prominently posted on our website since its inception, is that we are a scientific forum focused on the science of energy balance and that obesity is the result of an interaction between diet and physical activity.  We believe that reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is one strategy that may help reduce obesity. 

 

2.     Was the funding source for GEBN disclosed?

GEBN was officially launched with a press release on March 31, 2015, at the Experimental Biology Meeting.  Funding sources were fully disclosed on the website at the time of launch.  However, even though GEBN had not been formally launched before March 31, 2015, we were talking about the development of the organization on social media and giving the website address.  During the first week in February we were notified by multiple people that our funding was not listed on the website.  This was corrected on Feb 6, 2015, and we added full disclosures for all GEBN steering committee members. 

 

3.     Was the website developed based on information from Coca-Cola?

No. The GEBN website was developed based on a great deal of previous research by GEBN members.  In particular, Drs. Hill and Astrup have written extensively about energy balance.  As an example, see a recent review by Dr. Hill (Energy balance and obesity, Circulation, 126:126-132, 2012).

 

4.     Was the GEBN website registered to Coca-Cola?

Yes. This was a mistake on our part.   Once we developed the official name for the organization, the company offered to register the domain.  .  Although Coca Cola did register the domain name, they have had no input into the development of website content.

 

5.     Do you still feel comfortable with funding from Coca-Cola?

Yes.  We are enormously grateful to The Coca-Cola Company for providing funding to establish GEBN as a network to allow scientists to discuss and debate the science of energy balance.  This funding was given as unrestricted funding to the University of Colorado and the University of South Carolina.  This means that the company has no input into how the money is spent and there is no requirement to report anything to the company.  In providing funding for GEBN, the company knew that many GEBN scientists were concerned about consumption of sugar sweetened beverages and recognized that some of the recommendations from the group would likely be for the company to do more to reduce this consumption.  We believe that we will better succeed in reducing obesity if we can work with the private sector – both on the food and physical activity sides of the energy balance equation – to help figure out how to change both diet and physical activity.  We will need additional funding to continue the mission of GEBN and we hope that other companies will recognize the potential of GEBN as a forum to bring the best scientists together to discover workable solutions to reduce obesity.  We recognize that there are those who believe that companies like Coca-Cola should not be at the table to develop ways to reduce obesity.  Our position is that we need everyone at the table who is serious about helping solve this problem.

 

6.     What is the overall GEBN response to the NY Times article?

We were clearly dismayed to see our organization portrayed as downplaying diet to benefit Coca-Cola, but we do accept responsibility for some mistakes we made, particularly with our website. We remain passionate about finding real solutions to one of today’s most serious public health problems and we believe that a network of scientists who interact to discuss and debate the science of energy balance will help do that. We continue to believe that GEBN is needed and we are committed to making it work. We cannot afford to miss an opportunity to bring new thinking and new ideas to the table to develop more effective ways to reduce obesity.