Counteracting obesity: developing a policy framework to guide action

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate further debate regarding possible courses of policy action aimed at preventing obesity. Gostin's framework for classifying antiobesity legal interventions is tested and extended to incorporate non-legislative policy initiatives to include a comprehensive array of policy actions available to deal with obesity.

A web search of the literature has been conducted. Initiatives from USA, Canada and the European Union were discussed in terms of their objectives and fit with the framework.

Gostin's framework was found to be a useful tool in organizing all the initiatives (legislative and non-legislative). However, sometimes a broader definition of the category was needed. As well, in some categories, few initiatives were implemented to date and several new categories have to be added to the framework to classify all the existing initiatives.

The theoretical developed framework will assist new initiatives assess possible courses of action as well as countries or organizations that have already implemented some measures identify what else can be done to effectively fight overweight and obesity.