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National Obesity Conference On Teesside

A North East town which has the highest level of childhood obesity in England yesterday played host to an international conference for obesity experts.

Organised by the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO), the conference at the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough focused on why the poorest and most disadvantaged groups are often those suffering the most from obesity. The event ‘Health inequalities and obesity’ attracted speakers from all over the world. This includes Professor Shiriki Kumanyika from Pennsylvania University, USA, who looked at the societal changes that have altered eating habits and physical activity and led to the current epidemic of obesity, and Professor Johannes Brug, from The Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, who focused on the impact of mass-media campaigns on the prevention of obesity at a public health level. Professor Carolyn Summerbell, Deputy Chair of the ASO and head of the University of Teesside Centre for Food, Physical Activity and Obesity Research, said: “Obesity is a real problem here in the North East and this meeting pulls together policy initiatives, research findings and practical strategies to combat the problem in future generations, both locally and nationally. Discussing ideas from countries in better and worse situations than ourselves in terms of obesity prevalence brings a new perspective to our work in the UK”.

Middlesbrough on the Move was also unveiled. This will be a major initiative started later in the year which aims to explore whether it is feasible to change the lifestyle of a whole community in terms of a health diet and levels of physical activity.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .