Although the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States has been well publicized, many people are not aware that the disease has also emerged as a threat to the health of children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries around the globe. Once thought to be a strictly American phenomenon, childhood obesity rates are soaring in nations still plagued with hunger and poverty. According to World Health Organization statistics, at least 20 million children under the age of five years were overweight globally in 2005, putting them at risk for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. In this presentation, Dr. Lisa Pawloski, associate professor and chair of the Department of Global and Community Health in Mason’s College of Health and Human Services, describes her investigations into this global crisis.