Developing a Public Health Response

In December 2000, the Surgeon General hosted a public Listening Session on overweight and obesity. The meeting— Toward a National Action Plan on Overweight and Obesity: The Surgeon General’s Initiative—began a developmental process that led to this Surgeon General’s Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. A menu of important activities has been assembled from comments received during the Surgeon General’s Listening Session, a public comment period, and the National Nutrition Summit. The menu, which is presented in the following section, highlights areas that received significant attention during one or more of these events. Although not meant to be prescriptive, the menu should establish useful starting points as individuals and groups focus their own skills, creativity, and inspiration on the national epidemic of overweight and obesity.

The discussions at the Surgeon General’s Listening Session centered on activities and interventions in five key settings: families and communities, schools, health care, media and communications, and worksites. The key actions discussed are presented for each of these settings. Many of these actions overlap the different settings and can be applied in several or all environments.