The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7286 p173
14 February 2004

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RCP: Reducing And Preventing Obesity – Everything Must Change (more)

One-third of adults could be obese by 2020

If current trends continue, at least one-third of adults, one-third of girls and one-fifth of boys could be clinically obese by 2020, a new report suggests.

“Storing up problems: the medical case for a slimmer nation” has been jointly produced by the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Public Health and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The report says that action needs to be taken at every possible level — national, local, community and individual — together with changes in social and cultural factors. Among its recommendations are calls for:

• A cabinet-level Government task force on obesity
• Sustained public education campaigns
• Better food labelling and promotion
• Public services to take the lead in promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles
• Management of obesity to be included in all NHS plans and policies
• ore research into prevention and treatment of obesity

Copies of the report are available from the Royal College of Physicians, price £12 (tel 020 7935 1174 ext 358).