1. Obesity Preventing and Managing the Epidemic in your country

2. “Thou seest I have more flesh than another man, and therefore more frailty.” William Shakespeare Playwright

3. “Obesity is not a minor problem. It actually reduces life expectancy by a quarter.” Prof. Nicola Basso Physician

4. “The people in power have created an obesity epidemic.” Robert Atkins Physician

5. Work as a Team In order to answer the questions, you have to work as a team Each of you will work on an aspect of the topic When you come together to share the expertise you have gained, as a team, you will be able to answer the question Obese Person Teenagers Government Official Healthcare Workers

6. Background Information In order to answer the big question, you need to develop some basic shared understanding about Singapore’s and Australia’s policies relating to national health. Therefore it is important for all members of your team to visit the websites listed here in order to answer the questions below.visit the websites listed here 1.Why classify overweight and obesity? 2.What is the secular trend of obesity in the two countries? 3.What are the health consequences of obesity in adults and children? 4.What are the social consequences? 5.What are the health benefits and risks of weight loss? 6.What are the economic costs of obesity? 7.What are the factors that influence the development of obesity 8.How can each country address the problem? 9.How can we prevent and manage obesity as a community/country? 10.What are the challenges for the new millennium?

7. Background Information Singapore (Wikipedia) Singapore: Research on obesity Singapore: Health Promotion Board Australia (Wikipedia) Obesity Australia Australia: Institute of Health WHO Report Obesity - Global challenge Challenges for overweight/overweight/overweight/obese women Obesity – health risk Lecture by Dr Regina Belski - La Trobe University

8. Individual Roles Now that all members of your team have some shared understanding, it is time for each of you to become an ‘expert’ in a field of knowledge that will help your team answer the big question. In order to answer the question well, individual member of your team must play your part and fulfil the following ‘expert’ roles. Obese Person It is your role to find out about the problems (health, social, financial etc) facing the overweight/obese people in your community. Government Official It is your role to find out about the different ways that the government and non government authorities manage and address the problem. Teenagers It is your role to find out how you can help yourself and your fellow teens not to fall into the obesity trap and how you can play an active role in easing social consequences for the overweight/obese. Healthcare Workers It is your role to find out existing options and develop new ones for keeping the overweight/obese healthy and helping them to lose weight

9. Group Synthesis Well done. Each of you has not only gained the broad picture, but is also an expert in your role. You will need to get together as a team to share your different expert perspectives on the big question. How can we prevent and manage the obesity epidemic in Australia and Singapore? As a team, answer the question. Your answer must include information and ideas from each of the four areas of expertise. Your team must present in either of the following formats: Prezi Powerpoint The team will present to the rest of the Australian Connection participants and all members of the team will be required to speak during the presentation.