Steven Gortmaker, PhD is Professor of the Practice of Health Sociology, Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he has been a member of the faculty for the past 30 years. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and his PhD at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Gortmaker teaches courses on the methods of social and behavioral research. His research interests include the social demography of chronic childhood conditions, the social epidemiology of childhood obesity, including the effects of inactivity (exemplified by television viewing), physical activity, dietary behavior and environmental determinants of these behaviors. Dr. Gortmaker has been an author or coauthor of more than 155 published research articles, including the first reports in the United States concerning the obesity epidemic among children and youth in 1987 and the first study linking excess television viewing to obesity. Dr. Gortmaker directs The Harvard Prevention Research Center (HPRC). The HPRC's mission is to work with community partners to design, implement, and evaluate programs that improve physical activity and diet and decrease inactivity and reduce chronic disease risk among children and youth. The HPRC receives core funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.