ABSTRACT
Experts in public health and medicine have been calling attention to the health threat of rising obesity prevalence. Future directions for progress in reducing the health impact of obesity will depend upon three broad themes: removing barriers to better outcomes, developing public health strategies that work, and research to provide better treatment options. Obesity is a chronic disease with growing prevalence caused by complex interactions between biological, social, economic, and environmental factors. Perhaps one of the most important factors that impedes the delivery of evidence-based obesity care is payment systems that either deny or severely restrict coverage for obesity, while fully covering treatment for most of its complications. Public health strategies to address obesity focus primarily upon food policy, even in recent publications that purport to present “new thinking”. The focus of many obesity prevention programs is to promote physical activity and improved nutrition by individuals.
