The most recent Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS) Scientific Meeting, held in October 2024, brought together a dynamic group of experts, researchers, and healthcare professionals to discuss the latest advancements in obesity research, treatment or public health initiatives. As always it was a fascinating conference bringing together basic science, clinical science and public health research streams, commencing with a thought-provoking opening Symposia titled ‘Is the obesity epidemic solved? Evaluating the challenges and future directions’.

EPOCH-Translate members attending and presenting at the conference were PhD candidate Danielle Jawad, PhD Candidate Eve House, Postdoctoral research associate Dr Jessica Appleton and CI Prof Rebecca Golley – who both presented and co-chaired a session.

Key Highlights

The ANZOS 2024 meeting covered a wide range of pressing topics but of note were the:

1. Listening to those with lived experience A standout premise was the key role people with lived experience had in sharing their experiences and speaking directly to the role and responsibilities of all researchers and clinicians in this field. Of note for EPOCH-Translate is reflecting on how we do this and continuing to do this well. The planned combined HiPPP EMR-C and EPOCH-Connect conference later this year will include a consumer and community involvement themed symposium and workshop.
   
2. Systems thinking in Public Health and Policy The Public Health plenary presented by Boyd Swinburn and James Nobles was remarkable in scope and gave a wide lens to understanding how health promotion for obesity prevention can be understood in the community context and across sectors.
3. EPOCH-translate Research The EPOCH-Translate contingent shared their excellent research through oral and poster presentations. In consecutive oral presentations, both Danielle and Rebecca presented. Danielle, on her excellent work on Integrating health literacy and cultural considerations into a web-based program promoting healthy behaviours in infants. Rebecca on her extensive experience of implementing, scaling and sustaining interventions: Preventing Childhood Obesity through Public Health Programs: Success Stories and Scaling Strategies. Jessica, Danielle and Eve shared at the Day 1 poster session.

Networking and Collaboration

The ANZOS meeting also provided valuable networking opportunities. All EPOCH-Translate members attending had interesting and fruitful discussions. Of note for EPOCH was the ANZPON (Australian & New Zealand Peadiatric Obesity Network) networking event. This ANZPON currently connects by virtually once every two or three months.