Multidisciplinary obesity research: a local strategy for breaking new ground

Obesity has myriad causes that are both highly interconnected and embedded within a complex web of social, cultural, political and economic institutions. We outline the potential of a multidisciplinary approach for generating novel research streams in the study of population obesity, by considering current gaps in obesity research and methodological challenges in generating research that is accessible to researchers, policy makers, and health practitioners alike. We argue that in order to curb the unchecked rise in global obesity, new research must transcend conventional boundaries between the social and medical sciences. This paper begins with a description of several disciplinary approaches for understanding the macroand micro-level causes of obesity that are employed within the framework of the Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity (UBVO) at the University of Oxford. We highlight opportunities for collaboration between these approaches within a local, leaderless but purposive structure. By elaborating the research questions to be answered within this particular constellation, we encourage other institutions to similarly mobilize local resources for developing their own type of multidisciplinary obesity research.