A collaborative study including Dr. Gulzar Shah, director of the Office of Research, at Georgia Southern University Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health examines the variation in delivery of the 10 essential public health services by local health departments for obesity control in 2005 and 2008. The objective of the study was to describe and compare the capacity of local health departments (LHDs) to perform 10 essential public health services (EPHS) for obesity control in 2005 and 2008, and explore factors associated with provision of these services.