Taking tobacco control for a lap and lunch: Lessons learned from tobacco control initiatives and the impact on the uptake of obesity management strategies

Smoking prevalence has been declining in recent years due to utilizing a multi-faceted approach including; policy implementation, ongoing education and behavioural interventions. It has been suggested that the tobacco control approach can be applied to obesity management but the uptake has been minimal. This article examines plausible reasons as to why the suggested strategies from tobacco control have not yet taken effect for obesity management specifically aiming to increase physical activity and nutrition. Utilizing tobacco control strategies to increase physical activity and healthy dietary habits to prevent obesity is not a novel idea, however unlike tobacco prevalence we have not seen a decline in rates of obesity. The purpose of this short communication is to highlight potential reasons as to why the lessons learned from tobacco control have not seen the same success on obesity prevalence specifically in North America.