Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease. China urgently needs to build a precise diagnosis and treatment system for obesity.

Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease. China urgently needs to build a precise diagnosis and treatment system for obesity.

In most people's perception, obesity is not a disease, but in fact, obesity itself is a disease with complex causes. The health risks it brings are not just weight problems. Obesity can also easily cause various complications, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems, sleep problems, psychological problems and even tumors. If allowed to develop, it will seriously affect work and life.

On March 1, on the eve of World Obesity Day 2024, the "China Obesity Conference Communication Meeting and China Obesity Alliance Establishment Meeting" was successfully held in Beijing, hosted by the National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases (Beijing) and the China Obesity Conference, supported by the China Social Work Federation, and undertaken by the Southern Finance and Economics Media Group and the Guangdong 21st Century Education Foundation. At the meeting, the China Obesity Alliance was officially established.

China Obesity Alliance officially established

Professor Zhang Zhongtao, Vice President of Beijing Friendship Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, said: "The China Obesity Alliance is committed to improving the weight health level of the entire population. Through multidisciplinary integration and participation from the whole society, it promotes health education, professional training, translational research and medical diagnosis and treatment, and ultimately realizes the vision and goal of everyone having a healthy weight and enjoying a healthy life together."

Professor Zhang Zhongtao, Vice President of Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University

Obesity is not only a chronic disease, but also increases the risk of premature death

Obesity is one of the world's biggest public health problems. The 2023 World Obesity Map released by the World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2035, 1.9 billion people in the world will suffer from obesity, and the impact of overweight and obesity on the global economy is expected to be US$4.32 trillion in 2035.

The "Report on the Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020)" shows that the overweight and obesity rates of Chinese residents aged 18 and above are 34.3% and 16.4% respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Chinese adults exceeds 50%, and the obesity rate is on the rise. Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease that not only leads to a higher risk of premature death, but is also associated with the occurrence of a variety of chronic diseases and even tumors.

Research predicts that by 2030, the overweight and obesity rate among adults in my country will reach 65.3%, and the medical expenses attributed to overweight and obesity may be 418 billion yuan, accounting for about 21.5% of the total medical expenses in the country. In the future, the overweight and obesity rates of urban and rural residents in China and the economic burden caused by them will show an upward trend, and obesity prevention and control is urgent.

In the "Healthy China 2030" Outline, the chronic disease prevention and control plan has been elevated to the national strategic level. The "Healthy China Action (2019-2030)" focuses on the main factors affecting public health and has made 15 special actions, including the prevention and control of major chronic diseases. Among them, overweight and obesity have been mentioned as key points many times, and it is advocated that adults maintain a healthy weight.

Professor Zhang Zhongtao pointed out that my country's obesity prevention and treatment still faces many challenges. On the one hand, the public's health literacy is poor, and there is insufficient awareness of obesity and its hazards. At the same time, in the professional field, there are also problems such as insufficient scientific research, lack of standardization and uniformity of treatment methods, and lack of professional training for medical staff. Professor Ji Linong, director of the Department of Endocrinology at Peking University People's Hospital, said: "In my country, only a few large tertiary hospitals have obesity professional teams, and there is no obesity diagnosis and treatment system established at the national level like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases."

As early as 2021, under the advocacy of the National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases (Beijing), multidisciplinary experts jointly launched the first China Obesity Conference. Through academic discussions and interdisciplinary cross-disciplines, it has promoted clinical practice, academic research, professional education, and disease prevention and treatment in the field of obesity, and has become one of the most influential conferences in the field of obesity diseases.

Relying on the results of the two China Obesity Conferences, the China Obesity Alliance was jointly initiated by experts and scholars in the fields of weight loss and metabolic surgery, endocrinology and metabolism, clinical nutrition, cardiovascular medicine, metabolic biology, public health, etc., together with obesity-related professional institutions, public welfare organizations, universities, research institutes, enterprises, and media. It is an important platform for China's obesity prevention and control work.

Constructing a multidisciplinary obesity precision diagnosis and treatment system to provide patients with customized solutions

Obesity, as an independent chronic disease and one of the important pathogenic factors of many other chronic diseases, is associated with the occurrence of chronic non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertension, sleep apnea syndrome, osteoarthritis and gallstones.

Professor Zhang Yuqing, chief physician of the Department of Cardiology at the Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said: "Because obese patients have many related complications involving multiple disciplines, patients usually have different disease courses, different degrees of obesity, and different comorbidities. Most of them require multidisciplinary treatment and long-term or even lifelong management. They are usually accompanied by psychological problems. Many patients give up halfway due to poor medical treatment, which leads to more serious problems."

Professor Zhang Yuqing, Chief Physician of the Department of Cardiology, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

The multidisciplinary integrated diagnosis and treatment model for obesity is patient-centered, customizes precise weight loss plans based on each person's individual differences, and uses surgery, drugs, and lifestyle management in a scientific and standardized manner. This is also the current internationally popular modern diagnosis and treatment model, which usually achieves good weight loss results. Professor Chen Wei suggested: "Everyone should find a plan that suits them so that weight loss can be easier to implement and more effective. This is also an effective way to maintain long-term weight health."

Professor Ji Linong introduced: "With the development of medicine and the focus on obesity, clinical methods such as drugs and surgery are constantly innovating. The pipeline of weight loss drugs under development is becoming more and more abundant, and drug research and development and marketing are constantly innovating. This provides important support for the multidisciplinary weight management model of obesity."

Professor Ji Linong, Director of the Department of Endocrinology, Peking University People's Hospital

"The more difficult problem at present is the lack of unified standards for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Treatment methods vary from discipline to discipline, and treatment plans are arbitrary. The level of specialized diagnosis and treatment of obesity needs to be improved." Professor Zhang Peng, director of the Department of Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery at Beijing Friendship Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, said, "In the future, we hope to have an obesity department. We are now trying to launch obesity courses in more and more medical schools to establish a three-dimensional training structure."

Professor Zhang Peng, Director of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University

Professor Chen Wei, chief physician of the Department of Clinical Nutrition at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, proposed that attention should be paid to weight management for the entire population and throughout the life cycle, and lifestyle management is a necessary means throughout the entire weight management process. He believes that in the multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment model, lifestyle management with nutrition and exercise as the core plays an important role. Whether it is drug treatment or surgical treatment, it is ultimately necessary to return to a healthy lifestyle in order to achieve long-term weight health.

Professor Chen Wei, Chief Physician of the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Move the checkpoint forward to fundamentally improve the obesity problem

One of the tasks of the China Obesity Alliance is to strengthen the public and medical staff's understanding of scientific weight loss, and to create a scientific weight loss atmosphere in the whole society through popular science education and health promotion actions. Professor Fang Zhongze, vice dean of the School of Public Health of Tianjin Medical University, pointed out that it is more important to focus on the prevention of obesity. Through clinical research and the advocacy of a healthy lifestyle, we push the threshold forward and improve the obesity problem from the root.

Professor Fang Zhongze, Vice Dean of the School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University

In fact, at the Second China Obesity Conference, experts jointly launched the "Blue Dragonfly Action for Scientific Weight Loss", which aimed to make the public pay attention to weight health through popular science and free medical consultations, mobilize social forces to carry out public welfare assistance, and ensure that obese people can stay away from discrimination, receive attention and care, and enjoy fair rights to diagnosis and treatment.

In order to actively respond to the national call and help improve the healthy weight level of the entire population, the launch of the 3rd China Obesity Conference was also announced at this event. The newly upgraded China Obesity Conference will further expand and extend the fruitful results accumulated in previous sessions. Through normalized operations, it will join hands with more social forces to carry out weight health promotion actions.