It is our pleasure to report that HKASO had the honor to have actively contributed in the 2019 ICOMES & AOCO which was held in Seoul, Korea, from August 29 – 31. The meeting with the theme “Sea of Obesity: Navigating the Future” had invited a panel of eminent experts on obesity from the region, including our President Dr. Francis Chow, to give an account of their views/research around this theme. In an invited lecture “Clinical use of GLP-1RAs as anti-obesity drugs: learning from local cases”, Dr. Chow amazed the audiences by first giving a succinct review on the topic and then sharing with them his novel personal ways of dose titration for patients with this class of drug which had subsequently drawn enthusiastic discussions among the panels and audiences. In another invited lecture focusing on regional recommendations for prevention and treatment of obesity, Dr. Chow communicated “Insights from 2018 HKASO community telephone survey on obesity in Hong Kong” to the crowd which was also very well received.
Professor Andrea Luk, as an experienced researcher and leader in the field of metabolic diseases epidemiology who is the recipient of the 2019 Harry Keen Memorial Award, was invited to share on the topic of “Obesity and chronic kidney disease: what is the link”. The potential mechanisms discussed had stimulated interesting exchanges during the talk.
Dr. Lorena Cheung and Dr. Kitty Cheung presented their research findings “Impact of telephone lifestyle reinforcement compared to bariatric surgery and usual care on diet characteristics, hedonic hunger, and metabolic control in obese patients with type 2 diabetes: 1 year prospective study” and “The clinical and behavioral significances of self-perceived weigh status among Hong Kong Chinese adults” respectively in poster format as the awardees of the HKASO and AOCO Travel Grants.
Major future strategies on how to manage the imminent epidemic of obesity in the Asia Pacific and Oceania were made during the AOCO council meeting in which Dr. Chow had played an active and leading role in representing the HKASO.
