First Obesity Conference Addresses Critical Public Policy Issues:
Chronic Disease Now Second Leading Cause of Preventable Death in the U.S.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 1999 —A national conference on obesity opens here today bringing, for the first time ever, this chronic disease into the public policy arena. Over two days, public health, research and policy leaders are offering the latest on the causes, preventative measures and treatment of obesity. Some 300 conference attendees are discussing issues such as the prevalence of obesity among women, minorities and children; the role of the government and the private sectors; insurance coverage; and the funding for obesity research and prevention programs.

The Lewin Group is unveiling a major new cost study on obesity today.

Following opening remarks by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General, will deliver the keynote address.

The conference, Obesity: The Public Health Crisis, will illustrate obesity as an exploding health epidemic in the U.S. where 55 percent adults are now overweight or obese.

"Public policy makers continue to ignore and stigmatize persons with obesity; it’s time they treated obesity as they do other major diseases," said Richard L. Atkinson, M.D., president of the American Obesity Association. "With obesity now a mounting epidemic among children, women and minorities, we’re calling on Congress and the White House to support more government research to understand and treat obesity."

Conference sessions will emphasize:

• The scientific understanding of obesity, health conditions of obesity, new data on the costs of obesity presented by The Lewin Group, and directions for future intervention and prevention strategies.
• Special population panels focusing on the unique aspects of the highest risk groups: women over 20 (with a growth rate of 1.3 percent a year), children, and minority populations including African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Participants include the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, and the Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Future directions in obesity research: all aspects of obesity, including epidemiology, genetics, behavior and new strategies for prevention and intervention. Participants include Rep. John E. Porter (R-IL), Chairman, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriation Panel; American Medical Women’s Association; and Society for Advancing Women’s Research.
• Access to treatment: exploring why conditions caused by obesity are reimbursed services, but obesity treatments are either not covered or severely restricted. Participants include National Committee for Quality Assurance, Health Care Financing Administration, and the American Society for Bariatric Surgery.
• Disability and consumer protection issues: exploring when obesity qualifies as a disability, including new voluntary standards for the weight loss industry and the impact of dietary supplements for weight loss and their regulation. Participants include attorneys working in this field and the Federal Trade Commission.

AOA’s Atkinson will end the conference with a presentation of an Action Plan on the Epidemic of Obesity, intended to provide direction for advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local levels for government and private organizations.