World Obesity Day 2024 – Obesity and Youth: Young People Driving Change

Global Youth-led Webinar

when: Monday, March 4, 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 CET
where: Register here
Organizer: UNICEF, WHO, World Obesity Federation

background

By 2022, approximately 37 million children under the age of 5 will be overweight worldwide, and more than 390 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 19 will be overweight. Of these, 160 million people live with obesity, 75% of whom live in low- and middle-income countries. . This reflects a food system that is failing to provide nutritious meals to children and a health system that is failing to address obesity before it develops co-morbidities. In many contexts, this situation is further exacerbated by inequalities, including economic, social, and structural drivers of obesity, from rampant marketing to poor health care systems, which This means that many children are exposed to environments that promote health, rather than promote it. Weight gain. The stigma and stigma that many young people affected by overweight and obesity experience in their daily lives also takes a toll on their mental health and self-esteem.

World Obesity Day, March 4, is a day of unified action that calls for a united cross-sector response to the obesity crisis. This year’s campaign theme is “Let’s talk about obesity and…‘. We want to harness the power of World Obesity Day to start a cross-sector conversation. Let’s look at health, young people and the world around us and consider how we can tackle obesity together. That’s why, in the run-up to World Obesity Day 2024, the World Obesity Coalition, made up of UNICEF, WHO and the World Obesity Federation, is opening up a conversation about how this topic impacts the lives of young people around the world. We host global youth-led webinars to and the specific changes that young people want. This online global event will be an opportunity for decision-makers working in UN agencies, academia, civil society and governments to listen.

the purpose

• An overview of the global obesity crisis, how it is impacting young people and how they can join WHO’s accelerated plan to stop obesity
• Listening and understanding the realities of young people in different countries.
• Explore what it takes to spark a global youth movement to address these realities.
• Establishing what young people want and how to achieve it.

Chair

• Pierre (Kevin) Cook Jr. (he/him) – SUN Lead Group Member, HCC Technical Advisor (Barbados)

speaker

• WHO Youth Council: Ish Kataria (she) –WHO Youth Council NCDs Working Group Chair and RTI International Senior Public Health Researcher(India)
• WHO Expert: Francesco Branca (he/him) – WHO Director-General of Nutrition and Food Safety