More than two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.
That statistic still amazes me even though I am confronted by it daily in my role leading the U.S. Consumer Healthcare Behavioral Sciences business. So I was anxious to arrive in Washington, DC, this week for Obesity 2009, to hear the latest news and research from the obesity field's most eminent researchers, physicians, nutritionists and other experts. And I wasn't disappointed.
Hosted by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, this annual conference is recognized as the largest and most comprehensive program in the field of obesity. I joined more than 2,500 people from a variety of backgrounds who shared an extreme passion to help reverse the growing obesity epidemic.
The sharing of information began with an insightful keynote address on how learnings from smoking cessation can be applied to weight control by Dr. William H. Dietz, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity for the Centers for Disease Control. This confirms the opportunity for cross pollination that we've recognized at GSK for many years and was the basis for aligning both weight control and smoking cessation under the Behavioral Sciences businesses I manage.
Discussions continued around the need for a surround-sound approach to support consumers as they lose weight. This includes new technology, new food labels and restaurant policies to educate consumers about nutrition, the importance of changing food habits and other support programs and tools.
Researchers, including GSK, also highlighted findings about the different types of fat and the concept of good fat/bad fat and how to maintain the good and reduce the bad--not unlike what we saw years ago as the understanding of cholesterol advanced.
Obesity 2009 made clear that consumers who want to lose weight are not alone in their journey.
(Image courtesy of The Endocrine Society.)
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