Endocrine Insider
November 9, 2007

On October 29, Gilbert August, MD, representing The Endocrine Society, spoke to a near-capacity crowd of congressional staffers, association leaders, and industry executives at a luncheon briefing on Capitol Hill. The event, “The Importance of Biotechnology in Addressing the Obesity Epidemic,” was organized by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) to highlight the current treatment options for obesity, as well as the needs and hopes of both patients and physicians to better address this growing epidemic.

Dr. August’s remarks centered on many of the recommendations contained in The Endocrine Society’s new clinical guideline, “Prevention and Treatment of Pediatric Obesity,” which will be available to the public soon. As noted in his remarks, the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased four-fold since 1970 for children ages 6 to 11. Some of the specific recommendations coming out of the pediatric obesity guideline included:

• Prescribing and supporting lifestyle (diet and physical activity) modification as the cornerstone of prevention of obesity
• Advocating that schools provide for 30-60 minutes of moderate to vigorous daily exercise in all grades as well as providing nutritional education
• Reserving pharmacotherapy, in combination with lifestyle modification, for obese children only after failure of a 6-month trial of lifestyle modification alone, and for overweight children only if significant co-morbidities persist despite lifestyle modification

The guideline also discusses indications for bariatric surgery in youth.

Pictured (from left to right): Dr. August, Dr. Cowley, John Taylor (of BIO), Dr. Rowley, Julie Janeway, and Dr. Tataranni

Dr. August stressed the critical need for effective prevention and treatments for obesity. “Obesity has reached epidemic levels, and our nation’s medical community, legislators, and public have to work collectively to find effective and affordable treatments for this serious medical condition,” he said. “It is vital that Congress understands and addresses the obesity epidemic. Adults and children are at risk for serious health problems unless we can come together to improve the prevention and treatment of this disease.”

William Rowley, MD, Senior Futurist and Chief Operating Officer of the Institute for Alternative Futures, moderated the briefing and discussed the prevalence, challenges, and the impact of obesity. Other presenters included Antonio Tataranni, MD, VP Medical Metabolism, sanofi-aventis U.S. Pharmaceuticals, who discussed what he considered to be the current groundbreaking treatments for obesity. Michael Cowley, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. looked to the future and presented his view of the promise of biotechnology. Finally, Julie Hill-Janeway, Board Member of the Obesity Action Coalition, presented her perspective as an obesity patient and the need for access to effective treatments.

A video of this event can be viewed here: http://www.bio.org/news/video/obesity.asx