Healthcare professionals have come together under the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges (AoRMC) to launch a new campaign to combat increasing levels of child and adult obesity.

The medical profession - from surgeons and psychiatrists to paediatricians and GPs - is looking to tackle what has been described as the UK's "single greatest public health threat".

A three-month evidence-gathering inquiry has marked the launch of the campaign in a bid to gather research and experience of actions that help reduce obesity across five main areas.

Among the five elements being investigated by AoRMC will be the actions that can be taken by individuals, which comprises exercise in addition to diet and "positive parenting".

Fiscal incentives - including minimum pricing, personal incentives and taxation - is also one of the areas that will be investigated as part of the campaign's inquiry.

AoRMC vice chair Professor Terence Stephenson said: "Our starting point is the collective desire to ensure the healthcare profession is doing all it can to detect, treat, manage - and ultimately prevent - obesity.

"Speaking with one voice, we have a more of a chance of preventing generation after generation falling victim to obesity-related illnesses and death."

AoRMC chair Professor Sir Neil Douglas added: "This won't be just another report that sits on the shelf and gathers dust; it will form the bedrock of our ongoing campaigning activity."

Details: www.aomrc.org.uk

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