We are following the general steps set out by the James Lind Alliance.

The first stage involved an online survey to gather research questions. We grouped these together and excluded the questions that had already been answered or which were out of scope.

In a second online survey, all participants will be asked to put these remaining questions in order of importance. A short list of 20-30 questions will be drawn up.

Then we will hold a workshop for a group of survey respondents, members of the public and professionals. A list of the top 10 research questions will be agreed upon at this workshop.

These results will be shared with researchers, policy makers and the public.

Maybe it is the experience of people living with obesity and the struggles some face?

Maybe you think we need to know more about preventing people becoming overweight?

Is it important for us to learn more about the causes or effects of obesity in other countries?

Should we try to understand more about the links between particular diseases and excess body weight or the effects of losing weight? 

What about the effect of genes or our metabolism on weight control?

Should we prioritise research to help people with obesity feel better about themselves?

Or should we find ways to help people lose weight? 

What’s in and what’s not?

We are interested in any question related to body weight and health, this might include the effect of genes, metabolism, emotions or the influence of the kind of society we live in. This survey is not intended to cover research specific to the prevention or treatment of clinical eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa. 

In our first survey you told us the questions that are important to you and that you would like to see answered in the field of obesity and weight-related research. We had a fantastic response to survey one and received approximately 1000 questions. A big thank you to everyone who took part.

We grouped duplicate questions, removed questions that had already been answered by research and, where appropriate, rephrased comments to create research questions. The question was considered ‘answered’ if there was a reliable, definitive systematic review of research evidence addressing the question that did not show ongoing uncertainty or if there was robust healthcare guidance on the specific topic.

From this, we had 149 remaining unanswered research questions. These were prioritised in a second online survey.

We received over 400 responses to survey 2 and are grateful to everyone who took part. In our second survey you rated the research questions on a scale of 1-10 to tell us how important these questions were to you.

By taking part in these surveys you have helped to focus future research into the areas that matter most to the people involved. Thank you.

The next stage is a workshop where the questions from surveys 1 and 2 will be discussed. A list of the top 10 research questions for future obesity and weight-related research will be jointly agreed. These research questions will be widely shared.

We are a group of researchers at The University of Oxford funded by public money to do research on body weight and obesity.

You can read more about us and our work here: www.phc.ox.ac.uk/research/research-themes/health-behaviours-theme/health-behaviours