Childhood Obesity: The New Tobacco

Overcoming the childhood obesity epidemic will require changes on the scale of a social movement similar to the shift in attitudes and regulations toward smoking and tobacco. Tobacco control became a successful public health movement because of shifts in social norms and because cigarette companies came to be perceived by many as a common enemy. In contrast, obesity advocates have not identified a common threat or mobilized grass-roots change, nor have they identified strategies that resonate across diverse settings and constituencies. Framing obesity as a common threat can lead to consensus regarding the interventions needed to achieve healthier children and communities.