About ACO '09

When an obese patient comes to you with a medical issue, how do you help them? What if the issue is related to their weight? If the issue is unrelated to their weight, should you address their weight? Do you fully understand the various contributing factors to their obesity? What advice and guidance can you provide, and what are the options available for preventing, managing or treating obesity?

Now more than ever obese and severely overweight children, adolescents, adults and elderly individuals from a variety of physical and cultural backgrounds are turning to medical and health professionals for treatment of related and non-related illnesses and diseases. Therefore, it is important for you, as a medical and health professional, to be fully aware of the various aspects of obesity - from how it starts, its impact, as well as ways of preventing, managing and treating the condition.

What can ACO'09 do for you?

ACO ’09 will provide you with a comprehensive picture of obesity from the perspectives of nutrition, the environment, ethnicity, evolution, genetics, surgery and more.  Our invited speakers are obesity specialists who will demonstrate the value of their in-depth knowledge, clinical experiences and evidence-based research. Furthermore, they will provide clear, practical information that will increase your understanding of the obesity condition, as well as offer guidance for when working with obese individuals.

In addition to plenary sessions, there will also be three concurrent workshops designed to provide important information and an in-depth look at particular segments of obesity management, prevention and treatment.

Understanding obesity: Why it is important

For many medical and health professionals, there is still a lot more to learn about obesity. Obesity is more than just a question of diet or lowered physical activity, but is also about its relationship to chronic diseases, genetics, physiology, psychology, social environment, cultures and even politics.

In recent decades, the growth of obesity worldwide has staggered the medical field and governments alike. It has even been characterised as one of the most threatening pandemics of the 21st century. Obesity is seen by many as a disease on par with smoking, and is responsible for widespread health deterioration and premature death, psychological illnesses, and is even argued to be a significant contributor to future economic stress.

From a medical, social and economic perspective, the costs of obesity are enormous and set to continue to rise for the foreseeable future unless we tackle the problem head-on. Great strides are being made in the areas of research (e.g. epigenetics and youth obesity), prevention (e.g. government policies, nutrition and social programmes) and treatment (e.g. bariatric surgery and pharmacological intervention).

As more and more overweight and obese people turn to medical professionals for help, it becomes necessary for those medical professionals to remain up to date on the latest research, discoveries and policies associated with obesity.