LAUSR

![][1] Hilda Mulrooney is a senior lecturer in nutrition at Kingston University, London. I recently participated in a roundtable discussion organised by Vet Record , the BVA and Mars Petcare about obesity in pets. My perspective was unusual; I have no pets and I am a dietitian who has worked in primary care and public health, primarily in the field of human obesity. But, as I was preparing for the meeting, I started thinking about the overlap between obesity in animals and people. Obesity has been a serious health concern in people for several decades, and the current statistics, in both children and adults, are depressing. Unfortunately, nowadays it is more common for people to suffer from obesity or being overweight than to be a healthy weight; healthy weight is no longer ‘normal’ in the sense of being usual for … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif