BMJ  2008;336:1333 (14 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39605.555081.DB

News

Obesity and climate change could be tackled together

Roger Dobson

1 Abergavenny

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The UK government’s target to halt the rise in childhood obesity by 2010 is unlikely to be met, public health specialists have been told.

Delegates to the Faculty of Public Health’s annual conference, who heard that the problem is getting worse, were also told that obesity was the public health equivalent of climate change.

"The problem of obesity continues to get worse for adults and children. A target was set in 2004 to halt the rise in childhood obesity. Despite its modest ambition it seems unlikely to be achieved," said Derek Wanless, author of the 2004 report Securing Good Health for the Whole Population.

He said that although targets for smoking in adults by 2010 looked achievable, no target for adult obesity had been set since the early 1990s.

He cited one study that outlines the problems of rising rates of obesity: "They produce staggering figures for 2050—for example, 60% . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Myr, R. (2008). Breastfeeding tackles both obesity and climate change. BMJ 336: 1454-1454 [Full text]  

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