title: Energy balance at a crossroads: translating the science into action.
abstract: One of the major challenges facing the United States is the high number of overweight and obese adults and the growing number of overweight and unfit children and youth. To improve the nation's health, young people must move into adulthood without the burden of obesity and its associated chronic diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To address these issues, the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the US Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Research Service convened an expert panel meeting in October 2012 titled "Energy Balance at a Crossroads: Translating the Science into Action." Experts in the fields of nutrition and exercise science came together to identify the biological, lifestyle, and environmental changes that will most successfully help children and families attain and manage energy balance and tip the scale toward healthier weights.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two goals were addressed: 1) professional training and 2) consumer/community education. The training goal focused on developing a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the integration of nutrition and physical activity (PA) using a dynamic energy balance approach for regulating weight into the training of undergraduate and graduate students in dietetics/nutrition science, exercise science/PA, and pre-K-12 teacher preparation programs and in training existing cooperative extension faculty. The education goal focused on developing strategies for integrating dynamic energy balance into nutrition and PA educational programs for the public, especially programs funded by federal/state agencies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The meeting expert presenters and participants addressed three key areas: 1) biological and lifestyle factors that affect energy balance, 2) undergraduate/graduate educational and training issues, and 3) best practices associated with educating the public about dynamic energy balance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specific consensus recommendations were developed for each goal.
authors.affiliation: 1School of Biological and Population Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; 2Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, Chicago, IL; 3Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; 4Department of Health and Physical Activity, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; 5Center for Human Nutrition, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, CO; 6International Food Information Council Foundation, Washington DC; 7Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, Washington, DC; and 8Nutrition Affairs, National Dairy Council, Rosemont, IL.
authors.forename: Melinda M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Manore
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Houtkooper
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jakicic
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith Edge
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steiber
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Going
authors.forename: Lisa Guillermin
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Gable
authors.forename: Ann Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Krautheim
mesh_terms: D004046:Dietetics / Q000193:education; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D012931:Social Environment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology