Dear Click4ers:

This message was sent around on the Spirit of 1848 listserv and many of you
may have seen it. I have sent it with regard to some earlier discussions of
obesity related issues. I note that it includes a copyrighted article. It is
sent for educational purposes.


Rhonda Love

_______________________________



US to seek changes to major WHO obesity effort

By Rob Stein, Washington Post, 1/16/2004

NOTE: This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 1/16/2004.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration announced yesterday it will demand
significant changes to a major World Health Organization initiative to
battle obesity globally, saying the plan is based on faulty scientific
evidence and exceeds the UN body's mandate.

The move prompted intense criticism from US and international health and
nutrition experts, who charged that the US objections are a thinly veiled
attempt to placate the food and sugar industries and derail a vital
international assault on one of the world's biggest health problems.

The WHO plan, which outlines strategies nations can use to fight obesity,
has been widely applauded by public health advocates but bitterly opposed
by some food manufacturers and the sugar industry, because it includes
some controversial options, such as restricting advertising aimed at
children and increasing junk-food prices through taxes and adjustments in
farm subsidies.

The US delegation plans to seek significant revisions when WHO's governing
board considers the proposal next week in Geneva, a key official said.

''There have been approaches that WHO has taken that we do not consider to
be based on the best practices and the best science,'' said William
Steiger, the Health and Human Services Department's special assistant for
international affairs. ''What we want is a strategy that WHO can trumpet
that is the product of the best possible scientific evidence.''

Steiger said the revisions the United States will seek are still being
completed, but the goal will be to place much greater emphasis on the role
of ''personal responsibility'' and not government regulation.

''We have a whole series of potential changes we'd like to see,'' Steiger
said in a telephone interview. ''One overarching example is that any
strategy that deals with this subject has to deal with individual
responsibility. What's lacking is the notion of personal responsibility as
opposed to what the government can do.''

Steiger denied industry concerns were behind the administration's
position. The Grocery Manufacturers of America, or GMA, and the Sugar
Association acknowledged they oppose parts of the plan, but denied
influencing the US position.

However, GMA spokesman Michael Diegel echoed the administration's
criticism. ''There is no mention of what we consider to be the
fundamentally important issue of individual responsibility,'' he said.

Although the report could not compel nations to act, international health
experts said the comprehensive approach outlined in the draft version
would provide a powerful weapon to governments and public health advocates
seeking action against one of the most pressing public health problems.

''This document is fantastically important,'' said Philip James, chairman
of the International Obesity Task Force, an independent, London-based
public health think tank. ''It should have a big impact, unless it's
sabotaged. And we know it's being sabotaged.''

WHO estimates that perhaps 1 billion adults are overweight and at least
300 million are obese. In the United States, more than two-thirds of
adults are overweight, and nearly one in three is obese. Researchers have
laid the skyrocketing rates largely to a combination of people getting
less exercise and consuming more inexpensive high-calorie junk foods.

In 2002, WHO's governing body, the World Health Assembly, voted to develop
a strategy for combating the problem along with other chronic health
problems influenced by lifestyle, such as heart disease. WHO issued a
scientific report in June 2002 that provided the basis for the 18-page
strategic plan, which would come before the Assembly for final approval in
May if the 32-member executive board endorses it next week.

''It essentially establishes a new standard with which all doctors and
public health interest can now challenge the governments and say, `What
are you doing about this?' '' said James, who is also vice president of
the International Union of Nutritional Scientists.

WHO's supporters said the administration's objections were really an
attempt to undermine or gut the plan because of food and sugar industry
influence.


© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

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