Hospital District tackles overweight and obesity 

Twenty percent of Finns including school-aged children are overweight, and five percent are obese. Among many other health problems, overweight increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. If the number of people who are either overweight or obese remains at today’s level in the age group 25-62, there will be 12,000 new cases of type 2 diabetes in Finland. The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) calls for action to reverse the trend.

The new law on health care makes HUS, along with primary health care, responsible for general promotion of health. HUS has established a unit to promote healthy living habits, especially to manage overweight. The unit organizes seminars, produces materials intended to promote health and creates new forms of co-operation among stakeholder organizations.

The new work draws upon good experiences from previous programmes in primary health care. For example, a programme to fight overweight among children and young people was carried out in Lohja in 2006-2007. That programme reached 104 children and young people, and 56 percent of them reported that their weight gain was halted or they lost weight. According to the parents, the support and motivation provided by the programme was an important factor.  

The municipalities in the HUS region wish to extend the HUS project to include substance abuse and mental health problems.