FOREWORD

First Scandinavian Pediatric Obesity Conference (SPOC)

Paediatric obesity is an important health problem and

represents an uncontrolled, worldwide epidemic.

According to the World Health Organization, about

10% of young people aged 5–17 y are overweight,

among which 2–3% are obese. The prevalence of

overweight and obesity is much higher in the US

than in Europe. In Europe, the prevalence is equally

distributed between countries in the north and the

south of the region.

The awareness of childhood obesity as a major

health problem has to be increased in society. In order

to improve the quality of healthcare, it is important

to investigate and to standardize paediatric obesity

prevention and treatment and to adapt to social and

cultural aspects of the epidemic.

The field of obesity has in recent years witnessed

tremendous advances in its basic understanding of

the onset and nature of obesity. Much of these data

come from basic research into behaviour, body com-

position measurements and physiology. The infor-

mation derived from research is of enormous value

and will ultimately help researchers to develop more

effective prevention and treatment programmes for

children.

In March 2004, the Childhood Obesity Unit at

University Hospital Malmo, Sweden, organized the

first Scandinavian Pediatric Obesity Conference

(SPOC) with the intention of increasing knowledge

on paediatric obesity prevention and treatment. A

peculiar characteristic of this conference was the idea

of offering practitioners the possibility of solutions

for daily clinical practice. Leading specialists in the

field of paediatric obesity from Scandinavia and

Europe introduced the audience to the patho-

physiology of paediatric obesity and offered a view of

the prevention and treatment of this “disease”. The

contributions, which should be of interest to a wide

group of specialists, have now been collected in this

supplement. The accompanying editorial, written by

Flodmark et al., explains the current research situ-

ation and, more importantly, gives a guide to targeted

actions for the future. In particular, healthcare and

governments, along with the media, are called upon

to emphasize that paediatric obesity is a major priority

and to work together actively against childhood

obesity.

Our deepest thanks go to the speakers and the

attendees.

Carl-Erik Flodmark

Inge Lissau

Angelo Pietrobelli

Malmo, January 2005

Carl-Erik Flodmark Inge Lissau Angelo Pietrobelli

Acta Pædiatrica, 2005; 94(Suppl 448): 3

ISSN 0803-5326 print/ISSN 1651-2227 online # 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd

DOI: 10.1080/08035320510036518