The University has launched an initiative to tackle a big-boned problem across the state of Georgia.

University President Michael Adams announced an initiative against obesity last month, saying the problem has been long-term and will not be easy to beat.

“The data showing how quickly our population has been overcome by this menace to public health are truly startling,” Adams said in a University press release. “Obesity and its related diseases are taking a huge toll on the health of Georgia’s citizens as well as the cost of health care in this state, and I believe it undermines our economic development efforts in multiple ways.”

As obesity continues to be a problem across the nation, the University is looking for ways to combat the problem on campus. ELIZABETH WILSON/Staff

To battle obesity, there are four areas of interest the members want to tackle: community, communication, research and instruction.

Faculty members are partaking. More than 75 of them are collaborating on basic research on obesity, metabolism, genetics and disease. They are also working on developing pharmaceuticals, weight management interventions, and innovative after-school programs.

The University is also teaming up with Athens Regional Medical Center to incorporate obesity prevention and treatment into healthcare.

Before the initiative took form, many meetings were hosted to work out the intricacies.

“Obesity is real, and we were talking about how the University could set up an initiative that could have an impact,” said Clifton A. Baile, a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar and professor of animal and dairy science.

The meetings were looking to make a program that would last.

“We never had anything that endured,” Baile said. “We had some start-up activities or initiatives.”

The University planned and launched the initiative with financial support from the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Office of the Provost because it has a wealth of resources — undergraduate, graduate, faculty and staff — to pull from, Adams said.

It is also launching a $10 million fundraising campaign for the obesity prevention work.

“As Georgia’s land-grant university, UGA will harness its many and diverse skills and work cooperatively with interested parties, including other Georgia research institutions, to help bring this epidemic under control,” he said.

And the need for the program is present. About 65 percent of adult Georgians suffer from obesity and about 40 percent of children are either overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The rate of obesity in the population in general and Georgia specifically has been increasing,” Baile said. “The sooner you can act on things, the better.”

And with the high numbers come high consequences — especially for children.

“Children that are obese are 80 percent more likely to be obese as adults,” Baile said. “Thirty percent of mothers giving birth are obese. Obese mother and fathers at conception are increasing the propensity for obesity in the future.”

Adams said he is looking for the efforts to be “creative.”

“There are interesting new teaching tools to be used by school systems and 4H by extension that will make learning about obesity issues fun — some are game-based, some are virtual reality,” Baile said.

The initiative will be based at the University’s Health Sciences Campus.

For more information, the initiative’s website is hosted at obesity.uga.edu.