The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and its Treatment

The International Obesity TaskForce (IOTF) has been working in Asia and in the Pacific region to encourage the development of new policies that address the prevention and management of overweight and obesity.

The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and its Treatment document, provides a regional emphasis on the importance of obesity, its prevention and treatment. The document suggests diagnostic criteria to identify overweight and obesity in Asian populations, and provides information on prevention and treatment of obesity in Asian and Pacific communities. The intention is for the document to be used to encourage the development of effective obesity prevention programmes and policies.

This document constitutes a useful starting point, whose management approaches must be implemented in conjunction with existing national guidelines. The guidelines contained in this report aim to strengthen obesity management in countries of the Region and will be useful to all health professionals interested and involved in the diagnosis, management and prevention of obesity.

Website:
Asia Pacific IOTF – http://www.iotf.org/asiapacific/

Reference:
World Health Organisation, International Association for the Study of Obesity, International Obesity TaskForce. The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining obesity and its treatment. Sydney: Health Communications, 2000.