A policy assessment tool to identify causes of inequities that influence obesity prevalence.

When policy-makers propose health-related initiatives they need to assess the impact on health inequalities, including disparities in diet-related diseases and obesity. Health impact assessments, including health equity assessments, can provide insights into the potential health outcomes, but they are usually based on engagement with stakeholders and beneficiaries and their quality is not easy to evaluate. In this paper, we propose a policy assessment tool designed to ask a set of questions on the impact on health equity of policies and interventions that may be answerable from empirical evidence or from public health principles.

Prevention of childhood overweight and obesity in Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam: identifying priority actions.

Low- and middle-income countries are increasingly faced with a triple burden of malnutrition: endemic underweight, micronutrient deficiencies and rising prevalence of overweight. This study aimed to address existing knowledge gaps and to identify priority policy options in Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam. A landscape analysis approach was adopted using methods set out in a UNICEF global toolkit.

Obesogens and Obesity: State-of-the-Science and Future Directions Summary from a Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptors Strategies Workshop.

On September 7 and 8, 2022, Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptors Strategies, an Environmental Health Sciences program, convened a scientific workshop of relevant stakeholders involved in obesity, toxicology, or obesogen research to review the state of the science regarding the role of obesogenic chemicals that might be contributing to the obesity pandemic. The workshop's objectives were to examine the evidence supporting the hypothesis that obesogens contribute to the etiology of human obesity; to discuss opportunities for improved understanding, acceptance, and dissemination of obesogens as contributors to the obesity pandemic; and to consider the need for future research and potential mitigation strategies. This report details the discussions, key areas of agreement, and future opportunities to prevent obesity.

A better understanding of the science and reality of obesity is urgently needed.

Efforts to prevent and treat obesity need to be grounded in science. A historical focus on individual responsibility has been ineffective in halting the rise in obesity prevalence. There needs to be a better understanding of environmental and biological drivers of weight gain to help reduce weight bias and stigma and identify more effective policies for action.

An improved algorithm to harmonize child overweight and obesity prevalence rates.

Background: Prevalence rates of child overweight and obesity for a group of children vary depending on the BMI reference and cut-off used. Previously we developed an algorithm to convert prevalence rates based on one reference to those based on another.

Objective: To improve the algorithm by combining information on overweight and obesity prevalence.

Exploring an algorithm to harmonize International Obesity Task Force and World Health Organization child overweight and obesity prevalence rates.

Background: The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and World Health Organization (WHO) body mass index (BMI) cut-offs are widely used to assess child overweight, obesity and thinness prevalence, but the two references applied to the same children lead to different prevalence rates.

Objectives: To develop an algorithm to harmonize prevalence rates based on the IOTF and WHO cut-offs, to make them comparable.

Methods: The cut-offs are defined as age-sex-specific BMI z-scores, for example, WHO +1 SD for overweight.

What is a "high" prevalence of obesity? Two rapid reviews and a proposed set of thresholds for classifying prevalence levels.

Categories such as "low" and "high" have been used for several decades to describe the prevalence of stunting and wasting in populations of children aged under 5 years. They provide support for public health risk assessment and policy-making, including alerting health departments and aid agencies to national trends and local needs. In the light of the need for monitoring progress to meet globally agreed targets for overweight and obesity, the classification of their prevalence will be a valuable to aid in policy development, to target resources, and to promote public health interventions.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and obesity risk: A review of recommendations for obesity prevention policies.

Emerging evidence indicates that industrially produced endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be as obesogenic as poor dietary patterns and should be considered in obesity prevention policies. The authors conducted two reviews: (a) a systematic search of four electronic databases for papers published since January 2010 to identify the policy recommendations contained in scientific reviews of EDC exposure and obesity risk and (b) a narrative review of obesity policy documents published since January 2012 to identify the recommendations of national and international agencies. A search of four electronic databases found 63 scientific reviews with policy recommendations, of which 26 suggested individual responsibility to avoid exposure, 11 suggested medical interventions to counter the effects of exposure, and 42 suggested regulatory control of hazardous chemicals.

Social disparities in obesity treatment for children age 3-10 years: A systematic review.

Socio-economic status and ethnic background are recognized as predictors of risk for the development of obesity in childhood. The present review assesses the effectiveness of treatment for children according to their socio-economic and ethnic background. Sixty-four systematic reviews were included, from which there was difficulty reaching general conclusions on the approaches to treatment suitable for different social subgroups.

Correction to: Obesity: a Ghost at the Feast of the Sustainable Development Goals.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-020-00417-7.

Obesity: a Ghost at the Feast of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Purpose Of Review: Despite its rapidly rising global prevalence, obesity is not featured in any of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review highlights the multiple points at which obesity is affected by the Goals.

Recent Findings: At least 14 out of the 17 thematic SDG targets play a role in driving the obesity epidemic, including health, food, education, water quality, land and ocean quality, urbanisation and employment.

Costs, equity and acceptability of three policies to prevent obesity: A narrative review to support policy development.

Obesity prevention policies are a priority for many governments and intergovernmental agencies. Policy makers not only use systematic reviews of effectiveness but also consider contextual issues including cost and cost-effectiveness, equity, rights, acceptability and feasibility. To support their work, the present narrative review examines three contextual issues (costs, equity and acceptability) in relation to three policies for obesity prevention: sweetened beverage taxes, front-of-pack nutrition labelling and restrictions on advertising to children.

Primary prevention of overweight and obesity in adolescents: An overview of systematic reviews.

The aim of this overview of systematic reviews was to summarize evidence from up-to-date reviews of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing overweight and obesity in adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. We searched nine databases for systematic reviews published between January 2008 and November 2019. We used A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) 2 to assess the quality of reviews, excluding those of critically low quality, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) tool to grade the certainty of included evidence.

Clinical care for obesity: A preliminary survey of sixty-eight countries.

Obesity is a chronic relapsing condition affecting a rapidly increasing number of people worldwide. The United Nations has stated that universal health coverage is an essential element of the globally-agreed sustainable development goals. This article provides a preliminary report of a survey of relevant health professionals and other interest groups on the readiness of health systems to provide obesity treatment services.

Priority actions for addressing the obesity epidemic in England.

Objective: To prioritise policy actions for government to improve the food environment and contribute to reduced obesity and related diseases.

Design: Cross-sectional study applying the Food Environment Policy Index (Food EPI) in two stages. First, the evidence on all relevant policies was compiled, through an Internet search of government documents, and reviewed for accuracy and completeness by government officials.

Data-as-a-Service Platform for Delivering Healthy Lifestyle and Preventive Medicine: Concept and Structure of the DAPHNE Project.

Background: Overweight and obesity is related to many health problems and diseases. The current obesity epidemic, which is a major health problem, is closely related to a lack of physical activity, high levels of sedentary behavior, and increased energy intake; with evidence to show increasing incidence of these issues in the younger population. Tackling obesity and its comorbid conditions requires a holistic approach encompassing attention on physical activity, healthy diet, and behavioral activation in order to enable and maintain meaningful and long-term weight loss and weight maintenance.