May 10, 2023 – Croatia’s first Lady, Sanja Music Milanovic, is hosting a European leaders’ spouses conference tomorrow. The topic is childhood obesity prevention, which should lay the foundations for coordinated action to stop the increase in childhood obesity, the Office of the President announced.
As Index writes, obesity in children is currently one of the most difficult public health challenges. According to data from the World Health Organization, every third child in Europe lives with excessive body weight or obesity, and most adults live with the condition.
Childhood obesity carries over into adulthood and puts people at risk of developing non-communicable diseases, one of the leading causes of premature death and disability. Since not enough has been done to solve the problem of childhood obesity, this problem requires urgent attention, according to the press release.
The conference is organized by President Milanovic and hosted by his wife
With this aim, a conference of European leaders’ spouses on obesity prevention in children will be held in Zagreb. The conference is organized by the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia and the European Office of the World Health Organization, and the hosts of the conference are the wife of the Croatian President, Sanja Music Milanovic, and the Executive Director of the European Office of the World Health Organization, Robb Butler.
The conference should, among other things, mark the prevention of obesity in children as a priority and stimulate the discussion of key stakeholders on the actions that need to be taken to prevent obesity in children, with a particular emphasis on promoting and creating a healthy environment in which children have access to quality nutrition and physical activity.
The conference is also expected to adopt the Zagreb Declaration, which calls for establishing a new World Health Organization European Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention.
In the opening part of the conference, the wife of the Croatian president Sanja Music Milanovic, executive director of the European Office of the World Health Organization, Robb Butler, Queen Letizia of Spain, Minister of Health Vili Beros, and Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic will address the participants.
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