Here we take a trip back in time with EASO’s Executive Director Euan Woodward and the team, celebrating 40 years of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)
EASO was established in 1986, first as an individual membership association and then later as a federation of National Obesity Associations. The founding Directors were:
President: Per Björntorp (Sweden)
Vice President: Trevor Silverstone (UK)
Secretary: Arnold Gries (Germany)
Treasurer: Bernard Jeanrenaud (Switzerland)
The new organisation was formally announced during the 6th International Congress on Obesity held in Jerusalem, Israel. It took until 1993 before EASO was finally established as a non-profit organisation under French law. In 1998, after years of continuous growth and regular rotation of both the Executive Committee and the Council, the General Assembly approved a fundamental change to the by-laws – changing the membership from individuals to national associations.
Q: When and where was the first European Congress on Obesity, and do you know how many delegates we had back then?
Euan: The first congress took place in 1986 in Stockholm, and was chaired by Stephan Rössner. The EASO community was rather small in those days and whilst there are no delegate records, we assume that it was attended by only 3 or 4 hundred people.
Q: When was your own first ECO, and what do you remember most about it
Euan: My first ECO was ECO2005 in Athens. The ECO was becoming rather vibrant by then and I remember a thriving exhibition and a busy atmosphere. I very much remember warm and generous hosts and a beautiful host city. The first ECO that I organised myself was ECO2007 in Budapest. We converted a sporting arena into a congress centre and welcomed 2500 people from all over the world. It was an exciting thing to organise a big international congress in-house!
Q: This year we will celebrate ECO in Istanbul with some 4000+ delegates and EASO is firmly established as one of the leading obesity advocacy organisations in the world. What would the founders of EASO think of all that has been achieved.
Euan: I would hope that they would be delighted to see the growth of the organisation and indeed the field of obesity, and the realisation of their vision for disease recognition and strong scientific and treatment infrastructures. EASO has grown into an important European Association, and a leading international stakeholder in our field, thanks to the founders having had the confidence to establish an association dedicated to obesity science. We have grown beyond only science and the founders would, I am sure, be pleased to have seen the progression made by each of the Presidents and Executive Committee members over the last 40 years.
Thanks Euan, congratulations to you, the EASO team and all those who have served the association across many years. Happy Anniversary EASO!
