Because of the rising economic and medical burdens imposed by the explosion of worldwide obesity, lawmakers as well as health care experts are focusing on doing something to reduce the growing incidence of this condition. Major priorities for the future include developing more effective methods of preventing and treating the disorder.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated publicawareness campaigns throughout the world to educate policy makers, the public, and medical professionals on the various causes of and treatments for obesity. WHO is working with the University of Sydney in Australia to calculate the worldwide economic impact of obesity, and they are collaborating with the University of Auckland in New Zealand to study the political, socioeconomic, cultural, and physical factors that promote obesity.

The hope is that their research will lead to effective methods of curbing the worldwide epidemic of obesity, and they are...