LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is defending a recent study on childhood obesity, which was funded by Coca-Cola as part of an estimated $7.5 million the soda conglomerate has given the Baton Rouge research center over the past five years.
The study results and Coca-Cola funding was called into question in a recent online report by The New York Times, which notes that of the nearly $120 million Coca-Cola has given in grants to medical, health and community organizations since 2010, LSU has been the single largest benefactor.
“While Coke said that only $29 million, or less than 25 percent of the grant money, was used for academic research, the money has already begun to shape the international debate around obesity,” reads The Times report, which then goes on to cite the Pennington study.
The Times reports that Pennington’s press release on the study—which was released in August and focused on a lack of physical activity being a major predictor of childhood obesity—was “notable in that it did not mention the role of soft drinks in the obesity epidemic.”
Though Pennington provided The Times with a detailed comment on the study and its funding from Coca-Cola, the newspaper only printed a small portion of it. Pennington provided Daily Report with the full statement, which says the funding from Coca-Cola had nothing to do with the study’s outcome.
“Our research is transparent because our science is our stock-in-trade,” says Pennington in a portion of the full statement that was provided to The New York Times but not published. “The funders of our grants do not determine research outcomes, the science always does—and we publish the results of our scientific research in peer-reviewed scientific journals whether they are favorable to the sponsor or not.”
Pennington was chosen to lead the study by the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment, or ISCOLE, a five-year project funded in 2010 through a grant from Coca-Cola. Pennington notes the study was designed and conducted by 240 researchers, staff and students from 12 universities around the globe, and that the results of it have been published in at least 22 reputable scientific journals.
“In the past five years, the company also contracted with us to conduct smaller research projects,” Pennington says of its relationship with Coca-Cola in the statement, later adding: “As a state entity and recipient of federal, state and private funds, we comply with all appropriate ethical safeguards and often actively engage external advisory boards or outside reviews of means, methods and findings to assure the quality of our science. We also disclose funding sources and potential conflicts of interest in published papers and press releases.”
While the the press release issued in August on the ISCOLE study does not mention soft drinks, it concludes by noting the research was funded by Coca-Cola.
A breakdown of research funding sources provided by Pennington shows the bulk of it—64%—comes from the federal government, while 11% comes from state contracts, 10% from sub-contracts, 8% from food and nutrition entities, 5% from pharmaceutical companies and 2% from private sources.
“Our goal is to continue enabling progress on treatments for the diseases affecting so many in this country and right here in Louisiana—including obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and dementia,” Pennington says in the statement. “Given this, the potential exists to partner with business and industry in the biomedical arena. We see a bright future ahead if we can become less reliant upon unpredictable federal and state funding, and shift toward growing our research and bringing our ideas and expertise to the marketplace.”
Read the full story by The New York Times. See the complete statement Pennington provided the newspaper, and check out a listing of the 22 journals in which the Pennington-led study on childhood obesity has been published.
—Steve Sanoski
