Advocacy

The Obesity Challenge: What Should the Next President Do?

In September 2007, The Obesity Society and the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services hosted a conference at the Jack Morton Auditorium, George Washington University to discuss the challenge that obesity brings to the country and posed the question, What Should the Next President Do?

The conference looked at the budgetary and health implications of the nation’s rising obesity problem from the perspective of the major presidential candidates as well as health policy experts. The Obesity Society, the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and the National Journal sponsored this event, which brought together the advisors to the major presidential candidates, who are experts in their own rights, to address the issues and trends we are seeing.

View full coverage, videos and transcripts of the event, on the Kaiser Family Foundations KaiserNetwork.org at:

• http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=2353

"Should the next president serve eight years, to 2017, he or she will almost certainly see increasing rates of obesity and its associated health care problems. in fact, an article we are publishing this month forecasts that, if current trends continue, the prevalence of obesity will be 40% for men and 45% of women in 2015. We have now reached an alarming situation in which babies born today will probably live shorter lives than their parents."

- Eric Ravussin, President, The Obesity Society 2008

Ongoing Commitment to Advocacy

The Obesity Society is committed to advancing policy changes that address the current epidemic of obesity. Our advocacy program has three leading objectives:

• To assist in the development of programs designed to prevent obesity;
• To ensure patients have access to quality medical care for obesity treatment;
• To increase funding of obesity research.

Position Statements

• Draft Guidance for Industry on Developing Products for Weight Management
• NAASO, The Obesity Society’s Position on Orlistat as an Over-the-Counter Drug
• Response to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ National Coverage Determination for Bariatric Surgery
• The Obesity Society's Comments on Coverage Review of Bariatric Surgery
• Weight Bias Task Force Issues Policy Statement
• The Obesity Society Outlines Three Point Plan to Counter Obesity Before House Subcommittee on Government Reform.....
• The Obesity Society's Comments on Medicare Policy
• The Obesity Society comments on current working draft of NIH Strategic Plan for Obesity Research December 2003
• The Obesity Society's testimony before Congress
• Statement regarding the use of pharmacotherapy in response to a Public Citizen petition
• National Nutrition Summit Position Paper
• The Obesity Society's Council Urges All Members to Actively Support H.R. 88
• Report On The Supply And Demand Of ¹⁸O Enriched Water
• The Obesity Society's comments on Healthy People 2010