title: Summary of the 2000 Surgeon General's listening session: toward a national action plan on overweight and obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide insight into discussions at the Surgeon General's Listening Session, "Toward a National Action Plan on Overweight and Obesity," and to complement The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  On December 7 and 8, 2000, representatives from federal, state, academic, and private sectors attended the Surgeon General's Listening Session and were given an opportunity to recommend what to include in a national plan to address overweight and obesity. The public was invited to comment during a corresponding public comment period. The Surgeon General's Listening Session was also broadcast on the Internet, allowing others to view the deliberations live or access the archived files. Significant discussion points from the Listening Session have been reviewed by representatives of the federal agencies and are the basis of this complementary document.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Examples of issues, strategies, and barriers to change are discussed within five thematic areas: schools, health care, family and community, worksite, and media. Suggested cooperative or collaborative actions for preventing and decreasing overweight and obesity are described. An annotated list of some programmatic partnerships is included.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Surgeon General's Listening Session provided an opportunity for representatives from family and community groups, schools, the media, the health-care environment, and worksites to become partners and to unite around the common goal of preventing and decreasing overweight and obesity. The combination of approaches from these perspectives offers a rich resource of opportunity to combat the public health epidemic of overweight and obesity.
authors.affiliation: Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.forename: Charlene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: Lloyd J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kolbe
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.forename: Howell
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wechsler
authors.forename: Bruce S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: McNally
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Charles-Azure
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vogel-Taylor
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Starke-Reed
authors.forename: Van S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.forename: Wendy L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Johnson-Taylor
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Troiano
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Donato
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yanovski
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kuczmarski
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haverkos
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McMurry
authors.forename: Randolph F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Wykoff
authors.forename: Violet
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Allan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Noonan
authors.forename: Jonelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCarty
authors.forename: Christine B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Spain
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003153:Community Health Services; D005190:Family; D006266:Health Education; D006285:Health Planning; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008019:Life Style; D008402:Mass Media; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010820:Physicians; D011634:Public Health; D012574:Schools; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace