Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale

The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity is a scientific and public policy organization in New Haven, Connecticut. Formed at Yale University, the Rudd Center was co-founded in March, 2005 by benefactor Leslie Rudd and Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., to improve food policy and fight obesity and weight stigma worldwide.

The Rudd Center seeks to improve the world's diet, prevent obesity, and reduce weight bias by establishing creative connections between science and public policy, developing targeted research, and expressing a dedicated commitment to real change. The Rudd Center encourages both frank dialogue and significant change to occur among five key constituents:
 * Food and Agriculture Industries
 * Scientific and Medical Communities
 * The Media
 * Schools and Communities
 * Governments and Intergovernmental Agencies

The primary philosophy of the Rudd Center is to work with, through, and when needed to challenge these five major institutions that affect the world's diet, physical activity, and obesity, and also hold the potential for making significant changes to address stigma and bias related to weight.

The Center's ambitious plans to change the world's diet are executed by an energetic and talented core staff of researchers and business professionals. Heading the Rudd Center is Director Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., who is also professor of psychology at Yale. "The Center's work will by necessity involve both domestic and global initiatives," said Brownell at the launch of the Rudd Center in 2005. "Diets and their determinants in the U.S. are inextricably linked to those in other countries through international trade policies, global media influences, agriculture subsidies, and a number of other social, economic, and political mechanisms."