World Obesity Day 2017
World Obesity Day 2017
The number of adults suffering from overweight and obesity continues to rise. On current trends, 2.7bn adults worldwide will suffer from overweight and obesity by 2025.
We need to treat obesity now and avoid the consequences later.
Avoiding the consequences of obesity
Untreated, obesity is responsible for a significant proportion of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including heart disease, diabetes, liver disease and many types of cancer.
If we don’t tackle obesity the medical bill for treating the diseases that follow directly from obesity is expected to reach US$1.2 trillion per year by 2025.
Investing in the prevention, management and treatment of obesity is a cost-effective action for governments and health services. Investment can help achieve the 2025 targets set by the World Health Organization to halt the rise in obesity and to achieve a 25% relative reduction in mortality from NCDs.
Worldwide annual costs of treating the serious consequences of obesity in 2014 were... (see image)
Our Calls to Action
Invest in treatment services to support people affected by obesity
To tackle obesity it is vital that everyone who wants treatment has access to the best services available. Treatment services around the world must be strengthened.
This will require:
- Recognition that obesity is a disease and needs appropriate professional support
- Universal access, health coverage and insurance cover for obesity treatments
- Clear care pathways for people affected by obesity
- Multi-disciplinary teams to support the treatment of obesity
- Access to pharmaceuticals and medical devices as appropriate for individual needs
- Comprehensive follow-up services
Invest in early intervention to improve the success of treatment
Everyone who wants support with weight management should have access to early interventions.
Early intervention means investing in:
- National guidelines for the care and management for all people affected by overweight and obesity, particularly those from vulnerable populations
- Freely available primary health care consultations
- Health care professionals trained in patient engagement and avoidance of weight stigmatization
- Group and individual weight management services
- Personal, family, school and workplace support
- Universal access to monitoring and continuing care services to support people with obesity
Invest in prevention to reduce the need for treatment
Preventing weight gain and preventing weight re-gain are essential to meeting the World Health Organization targets and are also important for ensuring that obesity treatment is effective.
Preventing obesity needs to include:
- Education to ensure popular support for creating healthy environments
- Improved local food environments to ensure easy access to affordable healthy food
- Improved local neighbourhoods which support active leisure and travel
- Market interventions to support and improve dietary choices
- Health promotion throughout the life course to protect the health of current and future generations
About World Obesity Day
World Obesity Day was launched in 2015 to stimulate and support practical solutions to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight, and to reverse the obesity crisis. We aim to increase awareness, encourage advocacy, improve policies, and share experiences.
WORLD OBESITY DAY