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Constituting a Model for Obesity Control: Possible Experience From the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Authors:
Xiangcheng Wang
Tao Sun

Keywords: global health policy; public health policy; obesity control; tobacco control

Abstract:
The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) has effectively controlled tobacco use worldwide, and its successful experience could be drawn to control obesity, which poses increasing dangers to people’s health globally. Although the policies and regulations included in the WHO FCTC could not be adapted for controlling obesity wholesale, the WHO FCTC can indeed constitute a model to constrain the market availability of unhealthful foods and beverages for obesity control. The key measures suggested by the WHO FCTC, which are economic approach, educational strategies, labeling measure, restrictions on marketing as well as clinical intervention, can be applied to restrain the market availability of unhealthful foods in order to control obesity. However, the issue of obesity control is more complicated than tobacco control, since not all the foods are lethal, and the food companies are much more powerful than tobacco companies. Governments and organizations should cooperate globally and closely, and apply those measures comprehensively to create synergy in order to better control obesity. Though the potential model for obesity control may face some challenges such as the difficulty of implementation and obstruction of food industry, it has already made some achievements at current stage, for example, the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health has been endorsed, which indicates that the future of the model for obesity control will possibly be bright.

Pages: 81 to 88

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2014

Publication date: August 24, 2014

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4553

ISBN: 978-1-61208-359-9

Location: Rome, Italy

Dates: from August 24, 2014 to August 28, 2014