Health Service Delivery Framework For Prevention And Management Of Obesity

Obesity in all age groups, including children and adolescents, is a public health challenge across all settings. Obesity is now classified as a complex multifactorial chronic disease and not just a risk factor for other noncommunicable diseases and comorbidities. Recognizing the significance of primary health care for an effective and efficient response to the obesity epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidance on how to build capacity in the health system to deliver health services for prevention and management of obesity across the life course. This policy brief discusses the challenges and opportunities for preventing obesity in children and adolescents, and providing health services to treat and manage those already living with obesity. It outlines possible interventions through the primary health care approach.

To battle the obesity epidemic in America, health care professionals and policymakers need relevant, useful data on the effectiveness of obesity prevention policies and programs. Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention identifies a new approach to decision making and research on obesity prevention to use a systems perspective to gain a broader understanding of the context of obesity and the many factors that influence it.

Obesity poses one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century, creating serious health, economic, and social consequences for individuals and society. Despite acceleration in efforts to characterize, comprehend, and act on this problem, including implementation of preventive interventions, further understanding is needed on the progress and effectiveness of these interventions. Evaluating Obesity Prevention Efforts develops a concise and actionable plan for measuring the nation's progress in obesity prevention efforts-specifically, the success of policy and environmental strategies recommended in the 2012 IOM report Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation. This book offers a framework that will provide guidance for systematic and routine planning, implementation, and evaluation of the advancement of obesity prevention efforts. This framework is for specific use with the goals and strategies from the 2012 report and can be used to assess the progress made in every community and throughout the country, with the ultimate goal of reducing the obesity epidemic. It offers potentially valuable guidance in improving the quality and effect of the actions being implemented. The recommendations of Evaluating Obesity Prevention Efforts focus on efforts to increase the likelihood that actions taken to prevent obesity will be evaluated, that their progress in accelerating the prevention of obesity will be monitored, and that the most promising practices will be widely disseminated.

The prevalence of obesity in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world has skyrocketed in the past 20 years. Linked to heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome, it is also the leading cause of osteoarthritis and the second leading cause of cancer. With contributions from leading experts in the field, Obesity: P

Cardiovascular, respiratory, and related conditions cause more than 40 percent of all deaths globally, and their substantial burden is rising, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Their burden extends well beyond health effects to include significant economic and societal consequences. Most of these conditions are related, share risk factors, and have common control measures at the clinical, population, and policy levels. Lives can be extended and improved when these diseases are prevented, detected, and managed. This volume summarizes current knowledge and presents evidence-based interventions that are effective, cost-effective, and scalable in LMICs.

Comprehensive in scope and meticulously researched, Handbook of Obesity Prevention analyzes the intricate causes of this public health crisis, and sets out concrete, multilevel strategies for meeting it head-on. This innovative handbook clearly defines obesity in clinical, epidemiologic, and financial terms, and offers guidelines for planning and implementing programs and evaluating results. This systematic approach to large-scale social and policy change gives all parties involved—from individual practitioners to multinational corporations—the tools to set and attain realistic goals based on solid evidence and best practice in public health. A sample of topics covered: The individual: risk factors and prevention across the lifespan, specific populations (pregnant women, ethnic and regional groups). Levers for change in schools and workplaces. Community settings: role of the physical environment. "De-marketing" obesity: food industries and the media. Grassroots action: consumers and communities. The global obesity epidemic: rapid developments, potential solutions. From obesity prevention to health promotion: the future of the field. Its level of detail and wide range of topics make the Handbook of Obesity Prevention a bedrock sourcebook, overview, reference, or teaching text. Read by topic or cover to cover, here is accurate, up-to-date information for professionals and students in all areas of public health.