Desiderata Annual Report | Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a worldwide public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the problem is global and affects low and middle-income countries, especially in urban areas. The number of children under five years of age affected by excess weight was estimated at 158 million worldwide in 2020. In 2018, according to data from the Nutritional and Food Surveillance System (SISVAN), 3 out of 10 children between 5 and 9 years of age treated at the Unified Health Care System are overweight. Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic non-communicable diseases such as cancer, in addition to causing several complications during child development - such as endocrine disorders, bullying, depression - and generating high hospital costs, both related to childhood obesity itself and other diseases that affect children with obesity.

STRATEGY

To face this public health issue, Desiderata carries out several integrated actions to raise awareness among public managers and influence public policies for the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity, such as the production and dissemination of knowledge, data monitoring and mobilization for the issue, as well as advocacy.

RESULTS

Mobilization for the issue of childhood obesity:

Coffee with Ideas

Meeting that gathered 35 academic experts, health professionals, public managers, and the third sector to discuss legislation, food environments, line of care, and actions to promote health.

1^st Panorama of Childhood Obesity Seminar

Held at the Museum of Tomorrow, gathered approximately 40 professionals and managers representing the Ministry of Health, the State and City of Rio de Janeiro. The specialists discussed several causes, actions and strategies to face the problem: physical activity, pediatrics, child nutrition, social vulnerability, laws and public policies.

2^nd Carioca Congress on Primary Health Care

Workshop “Reflections on the flow of children and adolescents affected by excess weight and obesity in the primary care network of the City of Rio de Janeiro” at the 2nd Carioca Congress on Primary Health Care.

5^th National Meeting on Healthy Complementary Feeding (V ENACS)

Conducting a round of debates about the dissemination of the Panorama of Obesity in Children and Adolescents at the 15th National Meeting on Breastfeeding (XV ENAM) and the 5th National Meeting on Healthy Complementary Feeding (V ENACS).

Workshop “Do you know what you eat?”

Organizing Workshop “Do you know what you eat?” for children and adolescents in collaboration with bookstore Livraria da Travessa.

Video animation on childhood obesity

Production of video animation on childhood obesity.

Monitoring of data:

1^st Panorama of Obesity in Children and Adolescents in Rio de Janeiro

Preparation and dissemination of the 1^st Panorama of Obesity in Children and Adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, which gathers information that helps understand the scenario of childhood obesity in the state of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the challenges and opportunities for its control. Read the document.

Participation in the formulation of policies for facing childhood obesity:

“Actions to control and fight obesity in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Research, training, monitoring and dissemination”

Admission as a collaborator in project for the research and training of professionals “Actions to control and fight obesity in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Research, training, monitoring and dissemination,” which is being conducted by UERJ, UFF, UFRJ and Unirio, the Rio de Janeiro State and City Health Departments, Caxias and Mesquita.

2^nd Regional Meeting on Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Participation in the 2^nd Regional Meeting on Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, which discussed the plan to face obesity in the Americas by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Workshop on Childhood Obesity Prevention and Control

Participation in the Workshop on Childhood Obesity Prevention and Control held at the Ministry of Health. Its aim was to build indicators and targets for the program that will be launched in 2020 for municipalities and states to strengthen and implement more actions in this direction.

World Obesity Federation

Participation in the Latin American meeting of the World Obesity Federation for the creation of a global declaration on the fight against obesity.

Advocacy in the legislature in partnership with members of the Alliance for Adequate and Healthy Eating:

State Bill n^o 4335/2018

Opinion for the State Bill n^o 4335/2018 "Program to Improve the Quality of School Food in the State of Rio de Janeiro," which proposes changes to improve the School Food Program.

State Bill n^o 1755/2017

Participation in actions at the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia in order to pressure congressmen to put bill n^o 1755/2017 to a vote. This bill proposes banning the sale of soft drinks at elementary schools.

Municipal Bill n^o 1662/2019

Articulation for the drafting and processing of Municipal Bill n^o 1662/2019, which "institutes actions to fight childhood obesity" in Rio de Janeiro, led by the Institute for Health Policy Studies - IEPS.

Public consultation carried out by ANVISA

We made possible the street action "Labelling Booth," to collect contributions for a public consultation about the front-of-pack labelling of ultra-processed foods, which was organized by ANVISA. The action carried out in the port area of Rio de Janeiro resulted in 300 contributions.

Strategic networks

Childhood obesity is a public health issue with multifactorial causes, and therefore the fight against it depends on long-term collective and integrated actions. For this, Desiderata believes it is essential to create partnerships with national and international groups that can enhance the impact of its actions, some of these include:

Alliance for Adequate and Healthy Eating

Organization that brings together professionals, associations and social movements dedicated to the promotion and protection of adequate and healthy eating practices. The group’s objective is to encourage the advancement of public policies that ensure food and nutritional security for the population.

NCD Alliance

An organization that brings together more than 2,000 organizations that work with non-communicable diseases worldwide, including cancer and obesity.

Institute for Health Policy Studies

The Institute for Health Policy Studies is an independent non-profit organization with the objective of contributing to the improvement of public health policies in Brazil.