Obesity specialists appeal to family doctors: “It’s an emergency, let’s collaborate”

The obesity numbers in our country are “a real emergency: adults with this pathology make up 10-12% of the population, around 6 million people. Added to these is the 40% who are overweight.” While “a third of Europe’s children have obesity and overweight problems, and Italy is at the highest levels”. An emergency, for which specialists are launching an appeal to family doctors from the 31st European Congress on Obesity – Eco 2024, underway in Venice. “Let’s consider obesity as a disease and let’s treat it. Let’s work together for this”, Luca Busetto, vice-president of Southern Europe of the European Association for the study of Obesity (Easo), which organized the scientific event, tells Adnkronos Salute.

“Obesity – continues Busetto – has such high numbers, from an epidemiological point of view, that it cannot be addressed only at a specialist level. The collaboration of primary care doctors is necessary, both at the adult level and at the child, for treatment, screening, diagnosis and first-line care. I believe that our colleagues in general practitioners and paediatricians have an important role and must, therefore, be even more sensitive to the problem, especially today when, at least in adults, we are starting to have treatments that are more effective than in the past”, concluded Busetto, announcing that tomorrow, at the congress, a document will be presented to draw attention to the obesity emergency and indicate the actions and policies necessary to fight it. “As the Italian obesity society we have continuous contacts with general medical scientific societies, we are very close, we also organize training events together very often. But we must implement this work.”