Experts are demanding action to combat overweight and obesity in Latin America.

Doctors and scientists launched a declaration at a "healthy weight summit" held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, calling on governments to take urgent steps to halt the explosion in overweight and obesity which threatens an epidemic of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

The declaration, made on July 1, 2000,  was attended by representatives from the Argentine and Brazilian government health ministries and the Pan American Health Organization.

Prof Walmir Coutinho, leader of the Latin American Obesity Task Force, warned that overweight and obesity was now the most important underlying cause of death and disease. "We need coordinated action by governments all over Latin America to tackle this urgently," he said.

Signalling a new level of serious concern over the problem, representatives of the Argentine and Brazilian governments and the Pan American Health Organization attended the declaration, made at the Latin American Health Weight Summit by the Federation of Latin American Associations for the Study of Obesity (FLASO). 

Obesity levels have been rising rapidly in the last 10 years. Half the adult population in 
Brazil is overweight and one in eight is obese. Nearly 40% of men and 55 per cent of women in Argentina are overweight or obese. Around half the populations of Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay are overweight or obese. Nearly 70% of adults in Paraguay are overweight or obese.

Prof Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force, said there is a massive health problem which governments need to address. "This is the biggest unrecognized public health threat in the 21st century. Millions of people are already affected, but many millions more could be spared the consequences of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease if governments recognize the need for action now," he added.

"Brazil is already aware of this and is starting to take the right steps with its own national obesity task force action programme but much more needs to be done in Brazil, Latin America and the entire world," Prof James warned.

Prof Julio Montero, president of FLASO, said that the organization's members would be pressing their individual governments for better public health education, improved prevention measures to improve physical activity and healthier eating as well as more sophisticated methods of treatment for the obese.

"We need to work with the support of the Pan American Health Organization throughout Latin America to ensure that governments take this problem seriously," he added.

1/7/2000  - For further information call +44 (0) 20 7691 1900
See - Overweight and obesity levels in Latin America