The Italian Obesity Network is launched to respond to the health emergency

An initiative that starts from the territories, to respond to one of the greatest public health challenges of our time: the epidemic of overweight and obesity that is now spreading throughout the Western world, and beyond. This is the "Italian Obesity Network", a project launched today at the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo by a group of politicians, representatives of the institutional, healthcare, academic and civic world. It was created to address obesity, overweight, eating disorders and incorrect lifestyles with an integrated strategy, uniting hospitals, territorial medicine, schools, mayors, patient associations, citizens and pharmacies, and focusing on digital technologies and artificial intelligence to guide evidence-based policies.

Italian initiatives to fight obesity

“We are the first country in the world with a law on obesity being approved: today we are building an operational, widespread, inclusive architecture that starts from the territories and looks to the future of healthcare,” declared Antonio Tajani, one of the promoters of the initiative, during the presentation of the project. And in fact, in recent years our country has been quite active in combating obesity and overweight problems.

As the Deputy Prime Minister recalled, in addition to the first law in the world on obesity, Italy has also established a dedicated fund, included in the 2025 budget law. It has a shared manifesto in the works that will be signed by institutions, Regions, health organizations, patient and citizen associations, scientific societies, schools and universities. A network of regional hospital centers of excellence, built with Fiaso, in close connection with family doctors, pharmacists, and specialists and in agreement with the reference scientific societies such as the Sio. And a plan for the collection and structured analysis of clinical and social data, integrated with artificial intelligence tools to evaluate impact and sustainability from a Health Technology Assessment perspective.

The control room

As announced during today's event, an amendment to the Ddl Prestazioni will soon be presented, which will establish the Network's control room at the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Regions, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Agenas, Aifa and the National Obesity Observatory provided for by the Pella law. The Italian Obesity Network will be based on a One Health approach, which connects human, environmental and social health, and promotes a cultural transformation in eating habits, in schools and in urban environments. And its goal is to lead the upcoming revolution in the fight against obesity and overweight. Not only in Italy, but also in Europe and the world.

The proposal was also welcomed by the Italian Society of Obesity (SIO), which underlines the importance of a multidisciplinary and multiprofessional collaboration that involves doctors, dieticians, psychologists and all healthcare workers in all clinical contexts, alongside patients and their associations: "The SIO is ready to work with the government, Parliament, Regions and all the actors of the health system - concludes the president Rocco Barazzoni - to build an integrated, scientifically based and sustainable approach to the prevention and treatment of obesity and its many complications, starting with cardiometabolic diseases".