“Every Body Needs Everybody: Bringing together the global community, we’re working towards building happier, healthier and longer lives for everybody.”

The mission of World Obesity Day is to: 

Increase Awareness – raising awareness that obesity is a disease and improving understanding of its root causes and how to address them.

Encourage Advocacy – changing the way obesity is addressed in society, encouraging people to become advocates by standing up and calling for change. 

Improve Policies – creating a healthy environment that prioritises obesity as a health issue. Working to change policy to build the right support systems for the future. 

World Obesity Day encourages everybody to get involved, from the general public to health professionals. Encouraging people to Learn about obesity (know the facts), Support the campaign (use your voice), Share your story (have your say). Whilst also encouraging health professionals to Share your story (people), Understand obesity (know the facts), Join the community (advocates). 

If you’re wanting to learn more about obesity, you can download factsheets to gain a deeper understanding of obesity and its roots, or read real-life stories and experiences that people have shared. 

Obesity Advocates

Advocates are encouraged to Share your story (have your say), See what’s happening (events near you), and to Read the declaration (Obesity and COVID-19). Obesity organisations around the world are advocating for national and global policy changes to address the root causes of obesity. The ‘ROOTS’ Framework provides suggestions for obesity policy and advocacy that can be adapted to different national settings. It has been developed with the input of obesity experts and organisations across the globe.

R – Recognise Obesity

O – Obesity Monitoring

O – Obesity Prevention

T – Treatment 

S – System Based Approach

For more information about World Obesity Day or to get involved, visit their website World Obesity Day. 

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But World Obesity Day 2019 has a new objective; to give way and promote the launch of a new World Obesity Day on the 4th of March 2020, in response to the need for a global and unified voice to answer critical challenges that lay ahead. 

So the focus on October 11th this year will be the first step in launching the transition into 2020, creating awareness around the new date and how World Obesity Day 2020 will help translate recommendations into policy and actions at global, regional and national levels. 

World Obesity Day 2020

You can check out the World Obesity Day website to find out more about the motivations behind the initiative. 

Who runs World Obesity Day? 

A coalition of organisations spanning the globe. Organisations have aligned existing obesity days & activities to tackle the obesity epidemic together to inspire global change in policymaking, attitudes and action. From the Obesity Action Coalition, European Association for the Study of Obesity, Obesity Canada, Asia Oceania Society for the Study of Obesity and organisations in Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Caribbean. 

World Obesity Day: Ambition

Obesity is now a global crisis affecting more than two billion people but is unfortunately poorly understood. The complexity of the disease, the challenge of developing sustainable solutions and the burden of stigmas means that teamwork is needed to address the challenge. 

Organisations from around the world will acknowledge World Obesity Day on the 4th of March to call for a global response to this critical challenge, so that the narrative around obesity can be changed.

Recent years have seen many successful obesity days/weeks, reaching over one billion people, but by working together on one unified day the reach of promotions and activities can be greatly multiplied. 

So what can we do? 

Spread the word and save the date! As always helping to spread the word is one of the biggest things you can do to help support World Obesity Day. Let everybody know the new date and the importance of creating awareness around obesity.

In February 2019 the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) released a Position Statement on Obesity Prevention and Management. 

RACGP’s Position:

“The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) recognises that obesity is one of the most important health issues facing Australia and affects the health, wellbeing and productivity of many Australians.

Obesity is linked directly and indirectly to many chronic conditions and also causes significant morbidity.

General practice has a central role to play in the prevention and management of obesity. This role needs to be supported through improved funding of effective and evidence-based services and therapies. Funding for research into obesity prevention and management is also much needed.”

A summary of the statement

The RACGPs position statement highlights the significant role that GPs play in the prevention and management of obesity. 25% of Australia adults are living with obesity, yet it is estimated that <1% of GP consultations centre around the discussion of obesity. The RACGP does also recognise the need for more education of registrars & GPs in prevention, detection and management of obesity, as well as the need for more awareness of stigmatisation and inequity.

Not only that but is calling for the Australian Government support for evidence-based services and treatments, that currently have little or no Government funding. Uptake of bariatric surgery by adults that qualify based on BMI alone is unacceptably low. This indicates barriers to access and inequities as evidenced by <12% of these surgeries being performed in the public health system.  

The statement also calls for greater investment into research in the area. 

But why is this important? 

General practice has always been the foundation of management of chronic diseases in Australia. By recognising that GPs need to be better supported in their role in assisting patients with obesity, we are moving towards creating a solution in the healthcare sector. 

Unfortunately, the world we live in today does not support people to make healthy decisions when it comes to nutrition and physical activity. So although the RACGPs is recognising the need for changes in their own sector and the healthcare sector, the prevention of obesity requires much more, a whole-systems approach including public health safeguards, education, nutrition and town-planning. But it’s a step in the right direction nonetheless.