3 June 1999

Europe is on the brink of a public health catastrophe and could face a new epidemic of diabetes, heart and other diseases, international obesity experts warned today.

The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) launched an initiative today at its conference in Milan calling for action from governments for more research into the problem and to deal urgently with the need to improve peoples diet and levels of activity – two key factors blamed for the rapid increase in the number of people who are overweight and obese.

The Milan Declaration will be supported by action across Europe to set up new national steering groups to provide further evidence to persuade politicians to act.

EASO president, Professor Jaap Seidell, said his members want to see more action by governments to prevent weight-related health problems getting any worse and to improve the availability of treatment for those in greatest need.

Professor Seidell said: "Already, we are seeing overweight and obesity rising in most European countries and there are signs that a larger proportion of the next generation are becoming obese and overweight at an earlier age.

"While a great deal has been achieved in reducing levels of heart disease, those gains could easily be wiped out by this threat."

Professor Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) warned that Europe is not alone and the problem is reflected all over the world.

Professor James said: "We really need governments to sit up and listen. In some countries they are listening - in many more, they are not.

"This is a global crisis and urgent action is required now to prevent this silent epidemic of serious illness and spiralling health costs associated with high levels of obesity. We are facing a health disaster if we do not act."

Congress president, Professor Michele Carruba who launched the initiative, said he wanted the Milan Declaration to herald the start of a new agenda for political leaders across Europe to take obesity seriously. "We need better funding for research if we are to find ways to solve this problem as we move into the next century," he added.

Europe's most obese countries include England, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic.

2. Almost one third of people living in the European Union are overweight and more than one in ten is now obese. The estimated prevalence of obesity in a selection of European countries is:

3. Obesity is associated with a large number of health problems – particularly diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, hypertension, an increased incidence of certain forms of cancer, obstructive sleep apnoea and osteoarthritis. Life insurance data and epidemiological studies confirm that increasing degrees of overweight and obesity are important indicators of decreased longevity.

December 1998)