Survey of antiobesity legislation: are these laws working?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Obesity is well recognized as a major public health crisis throughout the USA. In recent years, governmental bodies at the federal, state and local levels have enacted policies intended to prevent the transition to obesity. Researchers have had the opportunity to study these policies and evaluate their impact on prevention of obesity.

RECENT FINDINGS: Most public policies have been directed principally, but not exclusively, to the prevention of obesity in school-age children. Interventions have been directed to encouraging breast-feeding, to changing school lunches, limiting access to sugar-sweetened beverages, encouraging physical activity, changing the composition of competitive foods and affecting food advertising directed at children as well as collecting BMI information. Efforts more directed at adults include encouraging workplace wellness programs and improving the nutrition label on packaged foods with front-of-package labels and caloric information on restaurant menus.

SUMMARY: For the most part, evaluations of the interventions reveal weak or modest benefits. The actual picture might be less positive due to the poor quality of research and publication bias. Push back by industry and others will require higher quality experimental and real world studies. All interventions fail to accommodate the multifactorial aspects of obesity.