March 4 is World Obesity Day, a date created to draw attention to this global health problem and to propose discussions on the subject in order to combat the prejudice surrounding the issue. Obesity is considered a disease by the World Health Organization (WHO) that can influence the development of other health problems and affects all age groups. Discussions on the subject are essential to prevent and reverse this situation.
According to the 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, the prevalence of overweight among children under 5 years of age increased from 33.3 million to 38.9 million between 2000 and 2020. The global figure for the prevalence of obesity among adults almost doubled between 2000 and 2016, from 343.1 million (8.7%) to 675.7 million (13.1%), with the majority of these people being women.
As the report states, lower-middle income countries concentrate the highest percentages of overweight children under 5 years old, followed by upper-middle income countries. For adults, most cases of obesity are in upper middle-income countries, followed by high-income countries. Among the most vulnerable groups, children under 5 and women, the number of cases with obesity is higher in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Solutions: prevention and care
Although the numbers are worrying, it is possible to contain the progress of obesity, including among children, by following some health recommendations. The World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence against Hunger Brazil, through the project Nurture the Future, produced two policy briefs on actions of attention, care and prevention of childhood obesity in Brazil, Colombia and Peru: Prevention and Care Actions in Brazil, Colombia and Peru and Strategies for Prevention and Care (at local level).
The publications are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number 3 – Health and Well-being of the UN. The aim is to present information to contribute to strategies to combat obesity developed by local public managers. Measures to control childhood obesity can support the prevention and reduction of government costs with chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) and other complications.
One of the main measures is exclusive breastfeeding until six months of age and continued until two years of age or older, which helps children to better regulate the amount of food ingested, since breast milk nourishes children with vitamins, minerals and hormones that help control appetite and collaborate with satiety mechanisms.
The documents also highlight how the promotion of healthy environments are relevant factors to prevent the growth of overweight and obesity. Organising places that encourage outdoor physical activity, encourage children to consume fruit, vegetables and greens, and reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods, such as sweet and savoury biscuits and candy, are alternatives to mitigate the chances of developing obesity among children.
Furthermore, the policy briefs highlight operational actions at government level that are useful for monitoring and assessing the nutritional status of children and adolescents. Food and nutritional surveillance equipment should be taken into consideration as mechanisms to monitor cases. The strengthening of primary health care is a means to identify the nutritional status of the population and, consequently, reduce the risk of dietary compromises that lead to obesity.
These are some of the various tools that the Nurture the Future Project presents to support the development of actions and public policies to control and prevent obesity. Intersectorial actions between health and education managers, academic community and institutions are some of the ways to control and prevent obesity worldwide. Click here and learn more about the project.