Policy Priorities of the I.R of IRAN for Childhood Obesity Prevention

Childhood obesity is an important risk factor for adult obesity and its consequences, its prevention and control are hence vital; considering the limited health resources, the most appropriate policies should be implemented.
After reviewing literature, taking into account national health policies and priorities, of other countries, international organization and guidelines of authorized officials, eight priority criteria and twenty policies for prevention of childhood obesity were extracted and submitted to selected stakeholders as questionnaires to determine policy priorities using the Delphi technique.
The three highest score priority criteria were efficacy, feasibility and inequality, Five high priority policies were: 1- Improving public health education in particular for healthy foods; 2- Adding obesity prevention and healthy diet disciplines/lessons to school teaching curriculum for mothers and kindergarten training courses; 3-Improving community and school physical activities and sports by revising management strategies; 4-Controling media regarding food and drink advertising and 5- Encouraging participation in physical activities by implementing revised policies for public transportation.
The prioritised policis in addition to other stakeholder opinions can be used for selecting most appropriate strategies and action plans to combat childhood obesity.