Tackling the Obesity Epidemic Like We Did Big Tobacco

By Sara Novak on June 30, 2014

Not 35 years ago you could smoke on airplanes, in offices, and public buildings. Today you’re lucky if you can light up in a public park. The federal government did just about everything possible from indoor and outdoor smoking bans to label warnings and downright scary ads on television to dissuade the American public from smoking. It was successful. In 1964, 42 percent of Americans smoked and that number dropped to 19 percent in 2010. That’s why many health advocates think that our approach to tackling the nation's obesity epidemic should rival that of Big Tobacco.
It makes sense when you consider that while tobacco is still a leading cause of preventable disease, it could be argued that obesity is a close second. After all, obesity causes costly chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer. More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese and the estimated annual medical cost of the obesity epidemic in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008.

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Two internationals groups are calling on governments to make binding commitments to combating obesity and the chronic diseases that go along with it.

“If obesity was an infectious disease we would have seen billions of dollars being invested in bringing it under control,” said Dr. Tim Lobstein, director at the World Obesity Federation, reported on Confectionary News. “But because obesity is largely caused by the overconsumption of fatty and sugary foods, we have seen policy-makers unwilling to take on corporate interests who promote these foods.”

The recommendations, which will be presented at the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, include stricter controls for food marketing, improving nutritional information, reformulating some food products, and raising the standards for food provided at public institutions.
“The scale of the impact of unhealthy food on consumer health is comparable to the impact of cigarettes,” commented Consumer International director general Amanda Long, reported in Confectionary News. “The food and beverage industry has dragged its feet on meaningful change and governments have felt unable or unwilling to act.”
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The global prevalence of obesity, which is defined as a body mass index of greater or equal to 30 doubled between 1980 and 2008 to 10 percent of all men worldwide and 14 percent of all women.