Experts gather in Salzburg to tackle childhood obesity

A three-day international congress on childhood obesity began in Salzburg on Wednesday, with experts seeking better ways to prevent and treat the condition, ORF reported. Around seven percent of primary school children in Austria have obesity, while about 5,000 children of primary school age are affected in Salzburg.

About 300 experts from 36 countries have travelled to Salzburg for the meeting. The congress is examining how to respond to overweight and obesity among children and adolescents.

Daniel Weghuber, head of the University Clinic for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, said that simply advising affected children to exercise more and eat better was not enough.

“It is not a lifestyle issue,” Weghuber said. Children and adolescents can already be affected in early childhood, he added.

The 35th annual meeting of the European Childhood Obesity Group is being held at the University of Salzburg. The programme focuses on both prevention and care, including how to stop children becoming overweight and developing obesity and how to help those already affected.

The congress runs until Friday.