Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) Senior Associate Ms. Asako Okawa delivered a presentation titled “Advancing Obesity Measures Based on the Voices of People Living with Obesity” at the 4th General Meeting of the Parliamentary League for the Promotion of Obesity Disease Measures.

The presentation introduced the recommendations published to date by HGPI’s Obesity Project. It framed obesity disease as a “social issue” rooted in socioeconomic and psychological factors, and stressed the need for seamless measures across all life stages, from childhood to old age. The presentation also shared insights from interviews with people living with obesity disease, which revealed barriers to seeking care, social prejudice and self-stigma, and the physical and psychological changes people experienced after starting treatment.


Drawing on the perspectives of patients and people with lived experience, healthcare professionals, local governments, and insurers, HGPI then proposed the following four measures as “the next move” in obesity disease policy:

1. Tiered recommendations to seek medical care after health checkups: Encourage people with a BMI of 35 or higher who also have hypertension, hyperglycemia, or dyslipidemia to see their primary care physician or a local clinic.
2. A new “Pediatric Obesity Guidance and Management Fee” in the medical fee schedule: Provide reimbursement for pediatric obesity disease treatment delivered through multidisciplinary collaboration.
3. Data generation to support unified criteria for recommending medical care: Accurately understand the real-world situation of obesity and obesity disease.
4.  A new “Obesity Disease Treatment Team Add-on” in the medical fee schedule: Introduce the add-on and generate evidence on the effectiveness of obesity disease coordinators and nutrition and dietary counseling.