European Association for the Study of Obesity

Their core work

EASO is the pan-European professional and scientific association for obesity medicine and research, representing thousands of clinicians, researchers, and allied health professionals across Europe. In EU research projects, they contribute clinical expertise, access to patient cohorts, continent-wide professional networks, and institutional credibility for translating research findings into clinical practice. Their participation bridges academic research with real-world clinical validation — a role that is difficult for universities or individual research institutes to replicate. They focus specifically on obesity-related health outcomes, weight management, and the intersection of food systems with metabolic health.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (NoHoW, 2015-2020), EASO worked on digital health interventions for weight loss — a clinically oriented, technology-assisted approach to a medical problem. By the time SWEET launched (2018-2024), the focus had extended into food systems, specifically how sweeteners and sugar alternatives are perceived and chosen by consumers. The keyword shift from no tracked terms in the early period to "consumer perceptions" and "consumer preferences" in the recent period signals a meaningful expansion from clinical health science into food consumer research at the health-food industry interface.

EASO is moving from purely clinical obesity research toward the food industry interface — specifically how food product formulations interact with consumer behavior and metabolic health, making them increasingly relevant to food companies, reformulation initiatives, and public health regulators.

How they like to work

EASO participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as project coordinator, which reflects their role as a scientific authority and network provider rather than a project management organization. Despite having only two projects, they have worked with 46 unique partners across 15 countries — an unusually broad network for their size, indicating involvement in large, multi-partner European consortia where their reach and credibility add value. For a potential collaborator, this means they can open doors to clinical communities and professional memberships at scale, but administrative project leadership is not their typical contribution.

EASO has collaborated with 46 unique partners across 15 countries through just two projects, indicating consistent involvement in large, geographically diverse European consortia. Their network likely spans clinical institutions, food science laboratories, and public health bodies across Northern and Western Europe.

What sets them apart

As the leading pan-European professional society for obesity, EASO brings something no individual research institution can match: institutional legitimacy across clinical medicine, access to a continent-wide professional membership, and credibility with policymakers and patient communities simultaneously. For a research consortium, they serve as both a scientific validator and a dissemination channel to thousands of practicing clinicians who can implement or trial research outputs. Consortium builders targeting obesity, metabolic health, food policy, or weight management would find EASO a rare bridge between rigorous science and real clinical practice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NoHoW
  The larger of the two projects in terms of EASO funding (EUR 183,750), NoHoW applied evidence-based ICT tools to weight loss maintenance — an early example of digital behavioral health intervention research at European scale.
• SWEET
  Running through 2024, SWEET is EASO's most recent and broadest project, covering sweetener safety, health impacts, obesity, consumer behavior, and sustainability — spanning both health and food agriculture sectors simultaneously.