Obesity Called a Global Epidemic

Obesity is a problem that has spread throughout the globe, and is now recognized as an insidious killer and the major contributing cause of preventable diseases.

The 10th International Congress on Obesity, held during September 2006 in Sydney (Australia), was attended by over 2,500 delegates from around the globe, who listened to 400 experts. Childhood obesity was the major theme in the conference. Health-care professionals now acknowledge that childhood obesity/overweight is such that we could be seeing, for the first time in human history, the possibility of millions of parents outliving their children. Obesity among children is a problem that will manifest itself when these obese/overweight children grow up, and if nothing is done to combat the problem, many countries will be facing massive chronic health consequences.

”Obesity is an international scourge,” said Prof. Paul Zimmet of Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), an Australian expert on diabetes and the chairman of the meeting. "This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world. It's as big a threat as global warming and bird flu.”

Overweight/obesity affects more people on our planet than undernourishment, and is now the greatest contributor to chronic disease. As part of the effort to impede this outcome, health experts at the conference called for a worldwide ban on junk food advertisements aimed at children. Guidelines drafted by the International Obesity Task Force suggested that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child should be used to stop junk-food companies and soft-drink manufacturers from marketing their products to children. The group also suggested that the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) tackle the issue.



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