CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY

Chronic Disease and Healthy Lifestyles

Keystone brings together a broad range of sectors, disciplines and perspectives to collaboratively combat the rising incidence of many chronic diseases – e.g., obesity, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain cancers. These disease conditions frequently are interrelated and linked to changes in lifestyle in the United States and increasingly around the world. Projects in this area must often consider not only appropriate policies, products, and research agendas, but also effective means of influencing consumer behavior.

Projects include:

Food and Nutrition Roundtable (2007 - present)
A Keystone-initiated standing forum, the Food and Nutrition Roundtable brings together prominent leaders from the public health community, federal agencies, the private sector, and academia to propose sustainable solutions to emerging food- and nutrition-related policy issues. The Roundtable’s aim is to drive durable improvements in consumer diet, and related improvements in public health over time. Of particular interest are matters of nutrition education and communication, consumer buying and eating behavior, the intersection of nutrition and food safety priorities, and coordination of existing programs among key sectors of society. The program’s current focus is development and launch of a voluntary system for uniform front-of-package nutrition labeling in the U.S. The resulting Smart Choices Program is expected to be widely implemented by Summer 2009 to assist consumers in building a better diet.
Project page:	http://www.keystone.org/fnr (members only)
External website:	http://smartchoicesprogram.com
Contact:	Judy O’Brien or Brad Sperber

LiveWell Colorado (2008)
Keystone designed and facilitated a strategic planning effort for LiveWell Colorado, a new multi-million dollar non-profit organization dedicated to improving the heath and wellness of Coloradoans by reducing obesity. The organization’s inaugural Board of Directors includes Colorado’s Lieutenant Governor, the President of Colorado’s Health Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and other prominent health leaders. The strategic planning process sought the input and guidance of over 800 interested stakeholders.
Contact:	Janesse Brewer

Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Weight Gain and Obesity (2004 - 2006)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked Keystone to design, convene, and facilitate a national dialogue on the role of foods consumed away from home (i.e., prepared meals purchased outside the home) in the problem of, and solution to, the obesity crisis. Forty leaders from government, industry, academia and civil society organizations met several times to identify feasible strategies for addressing obesity, and to develop specific recommendations for the successful implementation of those strategies. The resulting report is cited frequently and has informed policies and actions of various foodservice companies and other stakeholders.
Final report:	The Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Weight Gain and Obesity
Contact:	Brad Sperber

Youth Policy Summit: Child and Adolescent Nutrition in America's K-12 Schools (2006)
The Youth Policy Summit challenges exceptional students from around the country to conduct original research on a topic through the school year, and then come to Keystone to present their findings, learn mediation and negotiation skills, and engage in a mock policy dialogue. The end result is a set of consensus recommendations that the students can bring back to their schools, state legislatures, and members of Congress.
Project page:	http://www.keystone.org/cfe/kss/youth-policy-summit
Final report:	Youth Policy Summit Student Agreement: Child and Adolescent Nutrition in America's K-12 Schools, Final Policy Recommendations
External website:	http://www.youthpolicysummit.org/
Contact:	Brad Sperber

Youth Policy Summit: Child and Adolescent Nutrition in America (2005)
Organized by The Keystone Center and the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology, 40 students from 10 specialized math and science schools across seven states met for a week in June 2005 to engage in a Youth Policy Summit on child and adolescent nutrition in America. Students involved in the program spent months researching the topic of adolescent nutrition and obesity in the United States, including the current state of the problem in their own schools by surveying students, parents and administrators. The in-person program included negotiation training and orientation to public policy-making, a day of dialogue with prominent experts in the field, and a three day role-playing negotiation in which students developed a consensus national strategy for obesity prevention in schools.
Project page:	http://www.keystone.org/cfe/kss/youth-policy-summit
Final report:	Youth Policy Summit Student Agreement: Child and Adolescent Nutrition in America, Final Policy Recommendations
External website:	http://www.youthpolicysummit.org/
Contact:	Brad Sperber

Meeting of the National Osteoporosis Foundation’s Corporate Advisory Forum (2004)
Keystone facilitated a meeting between the Foundation’s trustees, staff, and industry constituents regarding the implications of the Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis. The meeting identified opportunities for and challenges in transforming the Report’s recommendations into a national action plan on osteoporosis.
Contact:	Brad Sperber

Regional Initiative to Eliminate Micronutrient Malnutrition through Public-Private Partnership in Asia (2001-2004)
Three-fourths of those persons who suffer from micronutrient deficiencies reside in Asia. The Asian Development Bank commissioned The Keystone Center with developing consensus strategies for private sector investment in efforts to combat micronutrient malnutrition in six countries: People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Keystone Center designed and facilitated a series of interdisciplinary dialogues and stakeholder consultation processes. The resulting consensus allowed Keystone-managed teams of technical and investment specialists to develop national investment plans that are culturally appropriate and economically feasible for each country. The project also featured a series of regional workshops on related technical, regulatory and market subjects, with the aim of building regional capacity and capturing efficiencies in research and development.
Contact:	Brad Sperber

National Action Plan on Breast Cancer (2000)
Keystone facilitated a number of work groups at a 500-person meeting to develop a national action plan for combating breast cancer. One such work group focused on identifying the primary issues related to health care provider information and dissemination among providers, patients, and others. The work group identified related influences and developed strategies to address them.
Contact:	Janesse Brewer

Keystone National Policy Dialogue on Food, Nutrition, and Health (1996)
This dialogue was designed to reach consensus recommendations on how to achieve the goals of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 and also focused on several specific diet-disease relationships for possible authorization of health claims. Keystone designed, convened and facilitated this opportunity for extensive dialogue among leaders from diverse sectors and disciplines. Several of the report’s recommendations were adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #59.
Contact:	Brad Sperber

Sharing Risk and Reward, Public-Private Collaboration to Eliminate Micronutrient Malnutrition. Report of the Forum on Food Fortification, International Dialogue on Micronutrient Malnutrition, Ottawa, Canada (1995)
Due to iron, iodine and vitamin deficiencies, 30% of the world’s population are unable to achieve their full mental and physical potential. While micronutrient deficiencies depress gross national product by as much as 5% annually, a comprehensive and sustainable solution would cost less than one-third of one percent of the GNP. Fortification of commonly eaten foods with micronutrients offers a cost-effective solution that can reach large populations. The public sector, which has the mandate and responsibility to improve the health of populations, and the private sector, which has the experience and expertise in food production and marketing, can collaborate to make fortified foods widely available. More than 120 public and private sector leaders discussed collaborative approaches to the elimination of micronutrient malnutrition and the need to establish national dialogues and other action-oriented linkages. Keystone initiated a dialogue to help promote the development of cooperative strategies between the public and private sectors towards the reduction of micronutrient malnutrition. Individuals from approximately 15 countries representing governments, food industries, and non-governmental organizations at national and international levels discussed international policy issues related to the reduction and elimination of iron, iodine, and vitamin A deficiencies through increased and improved involvement of the private sector. Keystone collaborated on the project with the Program Against Micronutrient Malnutrition at Emory University and the Micronutrient Initiative at the International Development Research Centre.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #58.
Contact:	Brad Sperber