Anglia Ruskin University: Obesity is subject of medical school’s first symposium

Costs, consequences and challenges of the UK’s obesity epidemic will be explored by world-leading experts during a free event hosted by Anglia Ruskin University’s School of Medicine in Chelmsford.

The inaugural Annual Symposium of the School of Medicine at ARU will examine the adverse effect of obesity on the nation’s health, the NHS and the economy. In England alone, approximately two thirds of adults are overweight or obese. In addition, almost a quarter of children aged 10-11 are considered to be obese.

Experts will discuss the role of the food industry in both contributing to and tackling the issue, and the role of pharmacological agents and of surgery used to treat obesity.

Expert speakers include experienced broadcaster Giles Yeo MBE, professor of molecular neuroendocrinology at the Medical Research Council’s metabolic diseases unit who has presented several BBC documentaries on health and obesity; Dr Jean Adams, who currently leads the Population Health Interventions programme at the Medical Research Council’s epidemiology unit; Rachel Batterham, professor of obesity, diabetes and endocrinology at the National Institute for Health Research, who was awarded an OBE this year for services to people with obesity; and Ahmed Ahmed, a consultant in upper gastrointestinal surgery at Imperial Weight Centre based at St Mary’s Hospital in London, who has performed more than 6,000 weight-loss procedures using keyhole surgery.

Dr Russell Cowan, Visiting Senior Clinical Fellow at ARU’s School of Medicine, said:

“Obesity has been a concern for public health across the developed world for many years but is showing no signs of easing.

“We’re delighted to be able to welcome members of the public to join our medical students, biomedical scientists, primary care and hospital doctors in the region at this, the School of Medicine’s inaugural symposium, to discuss how society can tackle obesity and its consequences.”