Summary of the 2000 Surgeon General's listening session: toward a national action plan on overweight and obesity.
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.
Jackson
Yvonne
Y
Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Washington, DC, USA.
Dietz
William H
WH
Sanders
Charlene
C
Kolbe
Lloyd J
LJ
Whyte
John J
JJ
Wechsler
Howell
H
Schneider
Bruce S
BS
McNally
Laura A
LA
Charles-Azure
Jean
J
Vogel-Taylor
Martina
M
Starke-Reed
Pamela
P
Hubbard
Van S
VS
Johnson-Taylor
Wendy L
WL
Troiano
Richard P
RP
Donato
Karen
K
Yanovski
Susan
S
Kuczmarski
Robert J
RJ
Haverkos
Lynne
L
McMurry
Kathryn
K
Wykoff
Randolph F
RF
Woo
Violet
V
Noonan
Allan S
AS
Rowe
Jonelle
J
McCarty
Kathy
K
Spain
Christine B
CB
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