KEY ISSUES IN THE PREVENTION OF OBESITY

Obesity is a serious, chronic medical condition which is associated wi th a wide range of debilitating and life-threatening conditions. It im poses huge financial burdens on health core systems and the community at large. Obesity develops over time and once it has done so, is diffi cult to treat. Therefore, the prevention of weight gain offers the onl y truly effective means of controlling obesity. Very little research h as directly addressed the issue of obesity prevention and previous eff orts to prevent obesity amongst individuals, groups or whole communiti es have had very limited success. However, we have learned sufficient from past preventive activities to realise that the management of obes ity will require a comprehensive range of strategies with actions that target those with existing weight problems, those at high risk of dev eloping obesity as well as the community as a whole. The prevention an d management of obesity in children should be considered a priority as there is a high risk of persistence into adulthood.