tailieunhanh - The challenge of obesity in the WHO European Region and the strategies for response

We are grateful to W. Philip T. James (International Obesity Task Force, London, United Kingdom) and Kaare R. Norum (University of Oslo, Norway) for reviews of and suggestions on early drafts of this book, Shubhada Watson (Evidence on Health Needs, WHO Regional Office for Europe) for helping to assess the evidence base, and to Garden Tabacchi (University of Palermo, Italy) for overall editorial assistance in completing the final manuscript. | EUROPE The challenge of obesity in the WHO European Region and the strategies for response Summary The challenge of obesity in the WHO European Region and the strategies for response Summary Printing of this publication was supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland. The World Health Organization was established in 1948 as the specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for directing and coordinating authority for international health matters and public health. One of WHO s constitutional functions is to provide objective and reliable information and advice in the field of human health. It fulfils this responsibility in part through its publications programmes seeking to help countries make policies that benefit public health and address their most pressing public health concerns. The WHO Regional Office for Europe is one of six regional offices throughout the world each with its own programme geared to the particular health problems of the countries it serves. The European Region embraces some 880 million people living in an area stretching from the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Mediterranean Sea in the south and from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. The European programme of WHO supports all countries in the Region in developing and sustaining their own health policies systems and programmes preventing and overcoming threats to health preparing for future health challenges and advocating and implementing public health activities. To ensure the widest possible availability of authoritative information and guidance on health matters WHO secures broad international distribution of its publications and encourages their translation and adaptation. By helping to promote and protect health and prevent and control disease WHO s books contribute to achieving the Organization s principal objective - the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of .