As published: JAOA - Vol 108 - No 2 - February 2008 - 83-84
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Retraining Our Sights: From Tobacco Use to Obesity Awareness

Family Health Care Center, Royal Oak, Mich

To the Editor: The international pandemic of obesity poses a serious threat to the well-being of society in terms of adverse public health and economic consequences.¹ As we continue the battle against obesity, public health authorities should heed the lessons learned in the successful campaign against smoking and the tobacco industry and apply those same principles (eg, shifts in public behavior prompted by tax and regulatory policies) in efforts against obesity.² Simply issuing warnings to the public about the ravages of obesity and throwing more money at the problem has not been working.^3,4

The preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that obesity, once established in an individual or a population, is extremely difficult to control by conventional methods of intervention, such as diet and exercise.¹ Although physicians must continue intervention efforts for those patients who are overweight, there needs to be a stronger public policy directed toward primary prevention of obesity.^2-4

A thorough international public health strategy to prevent obesity would address prevailing attitudes and norms and disparities in health and economics within society. Policymakers should encourage radical changes in the health-related behaviors of the public in order to produce substantial shifts in food production, marketing, and consumption.^2-4

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