About COAST

Mission Statement

Since 2004, the mission of UCSF's Center for Obesity Assessment, Study and Treatment (COAST) is to reduce the prevalence and adverse consequences of obesity. We seek to advance knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms by which stress influences obesity, and to develop effective interventions.

Working in interdisciplinary teams, we investigate the influence of psychosocial stressors on metabolism, eating behavior and nutrition, physical activity, fat distribution, and weight gain trajectories throughout the life course of diverse populations. We test translational research concepts spanning basic science, epidemiologic, and intervention studies, which include measurement and analysis of food and physical activity environments.

COAST researchers are developing and implementing innovative strategies for achieving optimal weight status. We also provide technical expertise in the measurements of dietary intake, eating behaviors, and multiple dimensions of stress (environmental, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and physiological).

Guiding Principles

• The roots of obesity are established in childhood and before childhood in the prenatal environment
• Family poverty, stress and well-being are primary determinants of children’s risk of the onset or exacerbation of obesity
• Childhood obesity, in turn, affects self-esteem, depression and achievement in childhood and later adulthood
• Complex interactions between the built environment and physiology influence behavior
• Women’s well-being is key to the mental and physical health of the child and the family
• Early intervention on stress and other adipogenic factors is more cost-effective and successful than later intervention

Given these findings and principles, we focus on the role of stress in women’s mental and physical health and weight gain, and the impact of their well-being on the health, weight, and well-being of their children and family.

Presently, COAST faculty are engaged in clinical, epidemiological and population-based research on more than 20 projects, most supported by federal agencies and foundations. The collaborative setting provided by COAST fosters multidisciplinary studies and allows discipline-based projects to benefit from expertise in and expanded perspectives from other fields. This provides a fertile context for the cross-pollination of ideas across disciplines.

Examples of research projects underway:

• Women of Childbearing Age

  • Effect of early life stress on premenopausal women’s mental and metabolic health
  • Effects of stress reduction on women’s dietary intake, fat distribution, mental and metabolic health
  • Evaluation of the “The Solution” for helping people overcome addictions and overeating

   Pregnancy

  • Social and environmental influences on nutrition and obesity in pregnant women
  • Depression in pregnancy and postpartum depression effects on babies weight and stress responsivity
  • Effects of high vs. low carbohydrate diets during pregnancy on infant birth weight and later health

  Infants, Children and Adolescents

  • Effect of mothers' early life stress, mental and metabolic health on children’s mental and metabolic health
  • Effects of stress reduction on inner city children’s mental and metabolic health
  • Effects of after-school food vendors on inner city children’s eating habits
  • Effect of after school activity on children’s mental and metabolic health
  • The role of the food environment on the diet and weight status of young girls

Mentoring Opportunities at COAST

COAST faculty work with postdoctoral trainees from the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Program , the UCSF Psychology and Medicine Program, and other Postdoctoral training programs such as medical fellowships in UCSF Pediatric Endocrinology, and the Training Program in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

These postdoctoral training programs attract exceptional scholars from a broad range of disciplines. Trainees work one-on-one with faculty preceptors on significant research projects, attend and lead weekly seminars, and study issues related to stress, well being, social disparities on health, nutrition and metabolic syndrome as well as ethics and human subjects protection.