Obesity commission to hold countries accountable: New Zealand co-leader

A new international commission on obesity will aim to hold countries accountable on commitments to tackle the global problem, a New Zealand academic heading the group said Monday.

Auckland University public health expert, Professor Boyd Swinburn is to jointly lead the Commission on Obesity, launched by the prestigious London-based medical journal, The Lancet, in partnership with New Zealand and U.S. universities.

"The commission aims to stimulate action and strengthen accountability to put in place agreed recommendations to reduce obesity and its related inequalities at global and national levels," Swinburn said in a statement.

"The commission's analysis will bring a deeper understanding of obesity as a result of underlying complex systems," said Swinburn.

"These include food systems, urban systems and economic systems that are fundamentally designed to improve people's lives, but have some negative consequences, including driving up obesity in most countries around the world," he said.

"It will also devise innovative approaches to reorient those systems in a sustainable and scalable way to encourage healthy weight."

Obesity was likely to share common determinants and solutions with other major emergent global problems across the world, such as climate change and inequities.

The commission would also establish mechanisms for regular, independent reporting on progress towards national and global obesity targets, implementation of recommended policies and actions, and specific systems analyses of obesity drivers and solutions.

The commissioners included representatives from China, Barbados, Mexico, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, the United States, Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands and South Africa.

It is to launch its inaugural meeting in February 2016 in Washington. Endit