Foreign practices of prevention of obesity and overweight in the adult population (literature review)

Introduction. The prevalence of obesity has increased significantly over the past four decades worldwide, in all geographical regions, and it is expected that 51% (four billion people) of the global population (over the age of five) will be overweight by 2035, 24% of whom will be obese. Obesity is also one of the main factors of disability and mortality. The causes of obesity are likely to differ at different stages of the life, so research into the prevention and treatment of obesity should cover the period from conception to adulthood.

The purpose of this study. To summarize and analyze foreign practices of the prevention of obesity and overweight in the adult population.

The systematic reviews and meta-analyses (Prisma) reporting method was used to conduct the review. The search was carried out in the bibliographic databases eLibrary, PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar by keywords: “primary health care”, “obesity”, “lipoprotein metabolism disorder”, “prevention”, “review”.

Prevention and support of a healthy lifestyle are new topics in general medical practice. Continuing consultations with general practitioners to discuss ways to normalize a patient’s weight can lead to positive changes in their health behavior, even if they are not related to weight loss. Foreign researchers have identified four main barriers preventing the provision of medical care to obese patients: stigmatization, improper communication, limitations of the medical care system, lack of individual recommendations and socio-cultural influences.

Examples of successful practices from different countries demonstrate that joint efforts by medical organizations, governments, employers and society as a whole can create conditions for improving the quality of life and health of the population.

Contribution of the authors:
Timofeeva A.S. — concept and design of research, collection and processing of material, writing of text, compilation of a list of references, text editing;
Dombaanai B.S. — collecting and processing material, writing text, editing text.
All authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Funding. This article was prepared by the authors’ team within the framework of the research work «Scientific substantiation of approaches to transforming the activities of outpatient and polyclinic institutions subordinate to the Department of Health of the City of Moscow» (no. according to EGISU: 123032100061-9).

Conflict of interest. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Received: April 1, 2025 / Accepted: June 24, 2025 / Published: October 31, 2025

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