IJE Advance Access originally published online on January 5, 2006
International Journal of Epidemiology 2006 35(1):3-9; doi:10.1093/ije/dyi309
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2006; all rights reserved.
Editorial |
Treatment and prevention of obesity—are there critical periods for intervention?
1 Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK
2 National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College at St Mary's, London, UK
* Corresponding author. Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol Canynge Hall, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2PR Bristol, UK. E-mail: d.a.lawlor@bristol.ac.uk
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Why obesity?
Both professionals and the public view obesity, increasingly apparent in childhood, and already highly prevalent in adults in the Western world, as one of, if not, the most important public health problem of our times. The considerable effort expended on researching risk factors for obesity (a Medline search for studies examining risk factors for obesity conducted at the time of writing this editorial (November 2005) resulted in 264 326 hits) contrasts starkly with the simplicity of the key underlying problem, that obesity is largely a consequence of over-nutrition and under-activity. Despite the clarity of this message, there is little evidence-based guidance on successful, viable long-term strategies to prevent or treat obesity. We believe there is a need to develop findings from epidemiological research into coherent decisions regarding prevention and treatment interventions and ultimately appropriate polices for the improvement of public health. Our intention was that a themed issue on obesity
Treating obesity
Diets
Over-the-counter dietary supplements
Pharmocological treatment
Surgery
A population approach to the primary prevention of obesity and its related morbidity and mortality
Standard approaches to obesity prevention in children and adolescents
Critical and sensitive periods for the primary prevention of obesity
The perinatal period
Infancy
Puberty and adolescence
Pregnancy
Studies of interventions during key developmental periods: proof of concept
The future
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