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DISCUSSION No. 129
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Are there any successful policies and programmes to fight overweight and obesity?
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Dear Colleagues,
This very fruitful exchange has come to an end, and we would like to thank all contributors for taking their time to post
their thoughts and share their experiences.
Below we share the summaries of the latest comments received and the concluding remarks of Rodrigo Vasquez from FAO Chile,
one of the facilitators of the discussion.
In his message, Rodrigo acknowledges the role your input will have in enriching the study on international evidence on
obesity reduction carried out by FAO in collaboration with the Catholic University of Chile (PUC) and in consultation with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The study will be shared with you as soon as it has been completed.
Late submissions are still welcome, please send them to
[log in to unmask]. To see the full exchange please refer to the
webpage and to the
proceedings document.
The FSN Forum team
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Rodrigo Vasquez, FAO, Chile - facilitator of the discussion
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Hi everyone!
I really wanted to thank you all for the excellent contributions that we have received. People from more than 36 countries,
5 continents, and from very different areas of work have provided input to the discussion: from governments, the private sector, universities, independent consultants, NGOs, etc.
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The result is a great set of proven policies, practices and ideas to fight obesity and overweight, which generally speaking
includes: changing the way to measure obesity and overweight, understanding the causes of obesity, changing eating habits, increasing nutritional education at all levels, increasing information and its reachability, increasing the sale and supply of fresh
products, increasing physical activity and break sedentary life styles, improving school programs against child obesity with the participation of parents and teachers, imposing taxes on processed food, promoting conservation agricultural practices, and controlling
the content of processed food. In addition, many contributors highlighted the importance of coordinating actions among stakeholders like the government, consumers, producers, and the industry. So in order to reduce obesity one should work together and the
issue should be approached from different angles.
I want to remind you that the input from the Forum will help us to have a better output regarding the "Study of international
evidence of obesity reduction: lessons learned from case studies". As soon as we have completed the study, we will share it with everyone.
Finally, after reading all the comments and practices from all around the world, I believe that the reduction of obesity
is possible, even if it is a hard-to-reach and long-term goal.
Thank you again for all the contributions and efforts.
Best
Rodrigo Vásquez Panizza
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CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED
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Manuel
Moya, International Pediatric Association, Spain
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Manuel stresses the need to prevent overweight and obesity in low- and middle-income countries, and shares with us a
low-cost and easy-to-run prevention programme that can be implemented in these countries.
Read the contribution
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Veronica
Gonzalez, Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Veronica presents the programmes ‘My Healthy School’ and ‘Healthy Stations’, which have been running in Buenos Aires.
For the success of ‘My Healthy School’, the collaboration with the Ministry of Education has been crucial. Regarding ‘Healthy Stations’, which included the provision of basic health checks and nutrition counselling, its success can be attributed to its accessibility,
speedy service, and the fact that it was for free.
Read the contribution
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Mylene
Rodríguez Leyton, Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla, Colombia
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Mylene presents the Colombian policy framework on food and nutrition security, which includes various successful initiatives
promoting healthy and balanced consumption. One of the main challenges has been controlling the influence of the media and the offers of unhealthy food by the market.
Read the contribution
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Neville
Rigby, International Obesity Forum, UK
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Neville stresses that countries have not yet adequately implemented obesity prevention strategies due to the political
and economic influence of the industry. He argues that policies do not work in isolation, but that the entire nutritional and physical environment needs to be adapted in order to be able to reduce obesity.
Read the contribution
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Kuruppacharil
V. Peter, World Noni Research Foundation, India
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In his fourth contribution, Kuruppacharil points to the positive role yoga can play in managing overweight and obesity.
He also refers to Mahatma Gandhi, who advocated for practicing fasting in the context of body and mind care.
Read the contribution
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