Obesity rising to 'epidemic' proportions

Health experts are warning that obesity is rising to epidemic proportions and now affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Organisers of the 11th European Congress on Obesity being held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, say that the problem of obesity is beginning to replace malnutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant contributor to ill health worldwide. The 2,000 scientists, doctors and nutritionists at the Vienna congress are considering research about the role of genetics, metabolism and drugs in contributing to the problem, as well as new therapies to treat it. Until now, exercise programmes, low-fat diets and drugs that suppress the appetite have been the main methods used to combat obesity. The chair of the congress, Dr Hermann Toplak, is reported as saying new treatments such as the slimming pill Xenical, which inhibits the breakdown and absorption of fat, and the appetite-controlling drug Reductil, are changing the way doctors treat the condition.