Novo Nordisk has joined\u00a0UNICEF in\u00a0a new three-year collaborative\u00a0initiative\u00a0to end childhood obesity. The partners\u00a0plan to do global research to share lessons and effective strategies to fight the disease, but they’re also initiating on-the-ground efforts in Latin American and Caribbean countries with high prevalence.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
For instance, in Mexico, the two are piloting a breastfeeding program to encourage new mothers to adopt the practice,\u00a0said Lars Fruergaard J\u00f8rgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, in an interview with FiercePharma. Breastfeeding has been\u00a0shown to have positive health benefits for children, including making it less likely that they\u2019ll end up living with obesity.<\/p>\n
Novo Nordisk\u2019s interest is tied to its research and treatments focused on Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to childhood obesity. Studies\u00a0show\u00a0childhood obesity is a strong risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur whole purpose is to drive change to defeat obesity and other serious chronic diseases. That\u2019s what we do,\u201d J\u00f8rgensen said. \u201cDriving change is acknowledging in part that it takes much more than medicine to solve the burden of diab etes and other serious chronic diseases like obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experts see the increasing prevalence of diabetes as unsustainable from a healthcare system perspective as well as for\u00a0drugmakers. Novo Nordisk also sees prevention as a responsibility and an obligation to society as a health partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to just develop and sell medicines. We also want to be a partner for society that\u2019s actually helping society to prevent diseases,\u201d J\u00f8rgensen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many people we\u2019re talking about here that there is still a big business opportunity for a company like ours. But for society, we have to make sure that the largest number of cases that can be prevented are prevented or the whole system collapses,” he added.\u00a0“For me, it\u2019s part of being a sustainable business that we actually help society to prevent what\u2019s preventable and thereby provide the room to give good care for those who actually need medical intervention.”<\/p>\n
UNICEF\u2019s own research in the “State of the World\u2019s Children” annual report found childhood obesity and children being overweight is on the rise almost everywhere globally. More than 40 million children under the age of five are overweight, while the number of children ages five to19 who are overweight has doubled in the past 15 years.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., the percentage of children with obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 1 in 5 school children aged 6 to 19 are living with obesity. That\u2019s why reaching children is key in efforts to fight and end obesity and in turn mitigate Type 2 diabetes, J\u00f8rgensen said. The\u00a0partnership with UNICEF is important in part because of the organization’s reach and knowledge in working with worldwide governments at a policy level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[451,1058,2546,2545,51,2544,1124],"class_list":["post-3386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weight-loss-gain","tag-children","tag-diabetes","tag-lars-fruergaard-jorgensen","tag-novo-nordisk","tag-obesity","tag-patient-education","tag-unicef"],"yoast_head":"\n
Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity - MyMedicPlus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity - MyMedicPlus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MyMedicPlus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-12T05:37:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-30T18:36:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"183\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mymedicplus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mymedicplus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mymedicplus\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f\"},\"headline\":\"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-12T05:37:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-30T18:36:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/1-7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Children\",\"Diabetes\",\"Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen\",\"Novo Nordisk\",\"obesity\",\"patient education\",\"UNICEF\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Weight Loss & Gain\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/\",\"name\":\"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity - MyMedicPlus\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/1-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-12T05:37:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-30T18:36:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/1-7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/1-7.jpg\",\"width\":275,\"height\":183},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"MyMedicPlus\",\"description\":\"One Blog Daily For Health And Fitness\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f\",\"name\":\"mymedicplus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mymedicplus\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mymedicplus.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/mymedicplus\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity - MyMedicPlus","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity - MyMedicPlus","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/","og_site_name":"MyMedicPlus","article_published_time":"2019-12-12T05:37:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-30T18:36:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":275,"height":183,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mymedicplus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mymedicplus","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/"},"author":{"name":"mymedicplus","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f"},"headline":"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity","datePublished":"2019-12-12T05:37:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-30T18:36:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-7.jpg","keywords":["Children","Diabetes","Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen","Novo Nordisk","obesity","patient education","UNICEF"],"articleSection":["Weight Loss & Gain"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/","name":"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity - MyMedicPlus","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-7.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-12T05:37:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-30T18:36:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-7.jpg","width":275,"height":183},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/novo-nordisk-joins-unicef-in-global-and-local-efforts-to-end-childhood-obesity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Novo Nordisk joins UNICEF in global and local efforts to end childhood obesity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/","name":"MyMedicPlus","description":"One Blog Daily For Health And Fitness","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f","name":"mymedicplus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mymedicplus"},"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/author\/mymedicplus\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3388,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3386\/revisions\/3388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}