Coalition Tackles Obesity

WASHINGTON, DC— One of the legislative priorities of a new anti-obesity campaign is to require insurance coverage for prevention, screening, diagnosis and multi-treatment programs for obesity that are coupled to measurement of health outcomes.

A group of lawmakers, health care groups, pharmaceutical companies and others who have taken notice of the rising obesity rate met at the National Summit on Obesity Policy last week to develop priorities for federal policy action for the campaign, called the Collaborative Campaign to End Obesity.

One of the main goals of the group is to change the health care sector so that it recognizes obesity as a complex disease with strong adverse health effects. The group wants the establishment of diagnosis codes and the requirement of insurance coverage to prevent obesity along with screening, diagnosis and treatment of obesity.

The group also called for promoting better nutrition, which involves ensuring that all foods in schools meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans set by the federal government. It also means reducing the marketing of unhealthy foods and increasing the marketing of healthy, culturally relevant foods.

Another goal is to promote active lifestyles by increasing physical activity in schools by reauthorizing PEP at higher funding levels and encouraging physical education standards. It also means creating a built environment that supports physically active lifestyles.

To read more about the campaign, go to http://obesitycampaign.org.