title: Challenges in lifestyle and community interventions research; a call for innovation.
abstract: Earlier this year the BMC portfolio was enriched by a new journal BMC Obesity. Here, we present the aims and objectives of the section on Lifestyle and Community Interventions. Innovative research is needed. Preventing or managing obesity requires addressing different determinants across multiple levels where diverse levers and stakeholders can play a critical role. Interactions of these determinants within and between systems need to be studied. How to leverage, manage and measure this complexity underlies the innovation that is needed in the next generation of obesity interventions. The ambition of the Lifestyle and Community Interventions section is to provide a space for innovative research, including research that falls outside the traditional comfort zone. We welcome studies of heterogeneous designs, including those of qualitative, quantitative, mixed and systems methodologies. Studies of interest include not only outcomes research of interventions but also process evaluation, cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analysis, and implementation and dissemination research. Innovations that integrate diverse intervention levers or combine primary and secondary levels of prevention are particularly encouraged. The general aim of BMC Obesity's Lifestyle and Community Interventions section is to advance our ability to decide on what combinations of approaches will be required to effectively and equitably prevent obesity.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for the Prevention of Overweight Zwolle, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences and VU University, PO Box 10090, 8000GB Zwolle, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tommy Ls
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Visscher
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin University, Locked Bag 20000, 3220 Geelong, VIC Australia.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jessica S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gubbels
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, City University of New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Terry Tk
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT UK.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Population Health, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC Australia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peeters
authors.affiliation: Previous: BMC Obesity in-house editorial contact, BioMed Central, 236 Gray's Inn Road, London, UK ; Current address: Cancer Research UK, 407 St John Street, EC1V 4AD London, UK.
authors.forename: Genevieve
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Horne
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA.
authors.forename: Simone A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: French