ECO 2025: Advancing collaboration across Europe for a healthier future
From 11 – 14 May, the World Obesity Federation joined researchers, clinicians, policymakers, lived experience advocates and partner organisations from across Europe and beyond for the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) in Málaga, Spain.
Hosted by the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), this year’s event proved to be a powerful gathering of shared expertise and momentum around systems-level change.
Over the course of the four-day event, the World Obesity team engaged in meaningful conversations across the congress programme and exhibition floor, showcasing our work on global data, policy, and health system readiness — and reinforcing the importance of uniting efforts ahead of the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs. We were delighted to meet and engage with many of our partners, members, volunteers and other allies.
Our stand provided an opportunity for attendees to explore:
- MAPPS II, our flagship project assessing how prepared countries are to manage and prevent obesity across health systems;
- The Global Obesity Observatory, a hub of country-level data and resources;
- Our scientific journals, including Obesity Reviews, Clinical Obesity, Pediatric Obesity and Obesity Science & Practice;
- Our SCOPE training programme, equipping health professionals with tools to manage obesity care;
- Our broader work on advocacy, policy reform and global mobilisation in the lead-up to the 2025 UN HLM
People with Lived Experience at the centre
We were proud to highlight the vital role of lived experience throughout ECO 2025. In collaboration with partners including the Global Obesity Patient Alliance (GOPA) and the European Coalition for People living with Obesity (ECPO), we welcomed and supported attendees from across the world who brought lived expertise to the table, helping to reframe obesity as a systems issue rooted in equity, access and rights.
"We have heard for many years that obesity is very dangerous for your health, and causes cancers, heart disease, and diabetes … As many governments are reluctant to support care and treatment for obesity, it’s starting to look like no one cares." - Ericka, Person living with obesity
We appreciated joining meetings including the ----------- [JR: get correct name - patient toolbox] -------------------- to share how World Obesity Federation and lived experience colleagues are advocating with the UN and WHO on prioritising obesity.
On May 12, World Obesity and the Global Obesity Patient Alliance (GOPA) co-hosted a advocacy training session for people living with obesity (PLWO) on the sidelines of ECO2025. Thirteen advocates representing 11 countries received training about the basis of advocacy, engaged in conversations regarding what the key asks on obesity to decision-makers should be and received an overview of the political process leading up to the next High-level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health, taking place in September 2025. We were delighted as a follow-on to this training, to have a number of the lived experience advocates accompany our team in putting their skills into practice in meetings at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Collaborating with members
ECO 2025 provided a fantastic opportunity for our members to connect with our Campaign and Membership Coordinator, Yele Fafowora. Throughout the event, Yele engaged in insightful conversations with both current and prospective members. These discussions centred around the various membership benefits, our ongoing global advocacy efforts, the MAPPS II research, and the importance of fostering continued collaboration to drive meani
Members that Yele met with included:
- Ada Cuevas from ATEROSCHILE (Corporación Grupo Chileno de Trabajo en Ateroesclerosis), Chile
- Nomathemba Chandiwana from the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, South Africa
- Marla Lis Alacron from the Sociedad Paraguaya para el Estudio de la Obesidad, Paraguay
- Marli Conradie-Smit from the South African Metabolic Medicine Society (SAMMS), South Africa
- Kim Jinwook from the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO), South Korea
- Peter Safwat, Clinical Nutrition Specialist from Egypt
MAPPS II Project
The Management and Advocacy for Providers, Patients, and Systems (MAPPS) II project is a global research study to review how well-equipped countries are for managing obesity in health systems and beyond, which launched earlier this year.
At ECO 2025, the MAPPS II team attended a round table hosted by SEEDO where Spanish experts shared regional and national strategies and programmes to address obesity across Spain. Our Head of Policy and Advocacy, Maggie Wetzel, was able to share more about MAPPS II with those attending.
Diego Bellido Guerrero, the SEEDO President Elect, and Fede Luis, the Vice President & Patient Advocate of ECPO, both joined us for the first meeting of the MAPPS II Spanish Working Group. We also began planning a round table for the Spanish deep dive which will take place later this year.
OBCT
The OBCT (Obesity: Biological, socioCultural, and environmental risk Trajectories) project - of which World Obesity leads the communications - had a strong presence at ECO 2025, with partners and affiliated researchers contributing posters, oral presentations and panel participation across multiple sessions. From work on genetic risk and precision medicine to research into the built environment, neighbourhood inequality and psychosocial drivers, OBCT showcased a range of interdisciplinary studies addressing how obesity risk evolves over the life course - particularly in low socioeconomic groups.
Project members also engaged in valuable conversations at the exhibition stand and poster area, highlighting OBCT’s role as a Horizon Europe-funded initiative aiming to build practical, equity-focused tools for obesity prevention. With over one year of the project completed, ECO 2025 was a timely opportunity to reflect on early findings and build new collaborations across Europe’s obesity research and policy communities.
Other notable events
Our CEO, Johanna Ralston, participated in a session hosted by the World Health Organisation on the Acceleration Plan .................... {can someone please help provide copy on this???}
As ever, we were pleased to support our fellow World Obesity member, EASO, organisers of the event, and celebrate the strength of our collective membership network working toward shared goals.
With ECO 2025 now concluded, we look forward to building on this week’s connections and insights, and continuing to push for coordinated, multi-sectoral action to address obesity in Europe and globally.