World Obesity Day – 4th March
Written by Sneh Chaudhry on March 4, 2022
Observed on March 4, World Obesity Day is an initiative that is directed towards the eradication of the global obesity crisis. Earlier October 11 was marked as Would Obesity Day. Since 2020, the date has been changed to March 4. To know more about World Obesity Day, let’s know about its theme, history and significance:
‘Everybody Needs to Act’ is the theme for World Obesity Day 2022. In 2021, ‘Everybody Needs Everybody’ was the chosen theme and the campaign that year turned out to be a huge success.
WORLD OBESITY DAY: HISTORY
World Obesity Day was celebrated for the first time in 2015. World Obesity Federation, a non-profit body that works in close collaboration with WHO and Lancet Commission on Obesity organises this day annually.
In 2016, the organisation emphasised childhood obesity (in alignment with the WHO commission’s report on Ending Childhood Obesity). ‘Treat obesity now and avoid the consequences later’ was the chosen idea for 2017 World Obesity Day.
The international body came up with a designated day to raise awareness about the implications of obesity and how it must be addressed at the local, national, and global levels to get rid of the disease. It is only through a collective effort that a happier, healthier society can be built wherein people can enjoy longer lives.
WORLD OBESITY DAY: SIGNIFICANCE
Dealing with obesity has been one of the toughest public health challenges. Around 800 million people worldwide are victims of obesity. It’s a life-altering disease that heightens the chance of comorbidities and aggravates the risk of serious health woes once affected by Covid-19.
The objective of the campaign is to “lead and drive global efforts to reduce, prevent and treat obesity”.
Its significance lies in the effort to redesign or reorient the system to protect the health and future of millions of children and adults.
By providing healthy food and drink options, training on healthy lifestyle changes, spreading information on the right exercises, encouraging people to bid adieu to sedentary lifestyles, and stigma, the global endeavour would be able to make significant contributions towards the elimination of obesity.
