World Obesity Day 2017

It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were promoting World Obesity Day but a whole year has already passed and here we are again raising awareness for this important issue.

What is World Obesity Day?

World Obesity Day was established in 2015 by the World Obesity Federation as an annual campaign with the goal of stimulating and supporting practical actions that will help to reverse the global obesity crisis.

World Obesity Day’s mission: “to lead and drive global efforts to reduce, prevent and treat obesity”.

The obesity epidemic is one of the biggest public health challenges globally, ranking in the top three causes of chronic ill-health. The rise in obesity is generally attributed to people eating more food energy than they need, as in many areas of the world food is now more readily available and cheaper than ever, at a time when we no longer have to participate in high levels of physical activity.

World Obesity Day Objectives

• Increase knowledge and understanding of the challenge of obesity, and what can and should be done to overcome it.
• Encourage governments to take urgent action to meet their commitment to halt the rise in obesity by 2025.
• Share national experiences of campaigning to enable the spread of best practices.
• Encourage member associations and supporters to get involved with advocacy and campaigning on obesity related issues.

What can you do to help support World Obesity Day?

The whole aim of World Obesity Day is to raise awareness of the issue each year. Just because today is World Obesity Day doesn’t mean that it’s too late to take action! Here’s some ideas from our team at Upper GI Surgery:

#WorldObesityDay – we all live in a world of social media and one way you can raise awareness is by sharing this blog, or the World Obesity Day website (www.obesityday.worldobesity.org/), or even your thoughts on the matter and make sure you use the #.

Make Healthy Choices – in support of World Obesity Day try changing the biscuit with your cup of tea for a piece of fruit, or leave the sugar out of your coffee today and encourage your family, friends, colleagues to do the same. Every little bit helps.

Raise Awareness – you don’t have to raise any money by sponsorship, but that doesn’t stop you raising awareness with a walkathon or a steps/pedometer challenge. Or even a healthy cooking competition. Anything to bring awareness to the topic and get people talking about it.

To find out more about World Obesity Day then visit the website www.obesityday.worldobesity.org/ and we’ll continue to keep you informed on the initiative and the impact that it’s having world wide.