Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) launched the “Obesity Control Promotion Project” in 2022, with the aim to raise overall societal awareness of obesity and promote more effective and integrated measures.

In 2023, to deepen and implement the recommendations made in 2022, interviews were conducted with patients suffering from obesity and with medical professionals. Advisory board meetings were also held consisting of experts from industry, government, academia, and the private sector. Based on our understanding of the actual conditions and issues surrounding people living with obesity taken from the perspectives in the medical field and within society, we propose the following obesity countermeasures that are required in society and medical care.

Recommendations

1. Strengthen primary prevention of obesity and other lifestyle diseases by educating people about healthy lifestyles and creating a society with few health risks through collaboration among government agencies and the private sector.
2. Enact highly effective secondary prevention policies generated by promoting and enhancing health data in specific health checkups and specific health guidance.
3. Establish community healthcare provision and support systems that involve collaboration among industry, Government, academia, and civil society and that are tailored to individual challenges and needs to provide appropriate interventions to people who are overweight or obese.
4. Establish healthcare provision systems and pursue nationwide equity so multidisciplinary interventions can be delivered to people with severe obesity.
5. Generate evidence on the effectiveness of measures for controlling obesity and other chronic diseases to advance obesity policy and create better and more equitable healthcare provision systems.
6. Break away from the tendency to favor certain body shapes and sizes and the concept of personal responsibility for obesity, foster understanding of obesity as a medical condition, and eliminate stigma that prevents timely and appropriate medical interventions.

■ Local governments, experts, and people living with obesity who lent their cooperation in our interviews (Titles omitted; in Japanese syllabary order for each group)

Health and Welfare Policy Division, Department of Health and Welfare, Saga Prefecture
Health Education Division, Department of Education, Fukushima Prefecture
Health Promotion Division, Health and Welfare Department, Miyagi Prefecture
Health Promotion Division, Department of Children’s Health, Kushiro City, Hokkaido
Four people living with obesity

■ Advisory board members (Titles omitted; in Japanese syllabary order)

Takeshi (George) Imaoka (Associate vice President, Medical, Diabetes Products and Clinical Pharmacology Medical, Japan Drug Development and Medical Affairs, Eli Lilly Japan K.K）
Tomonori Okamura (Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University)
Yuko Oguma (Associate Professor, Sports Medicine Research Center, Graduate School of Health Management, Keio University)
Tetsuya Kakuma (Professor, Health Sciences Course, Department of Fundamental Nursing Sciences, School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University)
Iwao Kurose (Executive Director, Japan Medical Association)
Atsuhito Saiki (Professor, Division of Diabetes, Metabolism and Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Toho University)
Tomotaka Shingaki (Sr.Advisor-Medical, Diabetes products and clinical Pharmacology Medical, Japan Drug Development and Medical Affairs)
Hiroshi Sugii (Vice chair/ Member of the board, AVP CMRQ Development Region Japan, CMRQ Development Division, Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd.)
Sayaka Tsuji (Obesity Treatment Coordinator, Toho University Medical Center Sakura Hospital)
Ichiro Tatsuno (Chairman, Japanese Society for Treatment of Obesity/ President, Chiba Prefectural University of Health Sciences)
Koutaro Yokote (President, Japan Society for the Study of Obesity/ Director General, Chiba University Hospital)

■ Sponsors (in Japanese syllabary order)

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) Global Health Innovation Policy Program (GHIPP)
Eli Lilly Japan K.K
Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd.