Tackling obesity requires efficient government policies

Abstract

Changes in food supply and eating habits, combined with a dramatic fall in physical activity, have made obesity a global epidemic. Across OECD countries, one in two adults is currently overweight and one in six is obese. Children have not been spared, with up to one in three currently overweight. Obese people are more likely to develop diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and have a shorter life expectancy than people of normal weight. A prevention strategy combining health promotion campaigns, government regulation, counseling of individuals at risk in primary care, and paying special attention to the most vulnerable, would enhance population health at an affordable cost, with likely beneficial effects on health inequalities. Failure to implement such a strategy would impose heavy burdens on future generations. The new IJHPR paper by Ginsberg and Rosenberg illustrates how particular countries can assess alternative strategies for tackling obesity in a rigorous fashion.