Austrian medical and social experts warned on Friday that 42 percent of the Austrian population aged 18 to 65 years are overweight, which would cause very tough medical and social problems. At the round table held by the Chamber for Pharmacists in Vienna, the continually increasing body weight of the Austrians as well as the universality of obesity became the main topics. The figures showed that in the group of 18 to 65 years of age, the proportion of obese patients have even accounted for 11 percent. Over the past few years, the proportion of obese children has also increased by 7 percent. The experts said that obesity must attract sufficient attention of all social parities. Member of the European Parliament, Karin Kadenbach from Austrian ruling party Social Democratic Party (SPOe) suggested that overweight is becoming a widespread problem. The European Commission estimates that 7 percent of the EU's health and care resources have been used to deal with the diseases caused by overweight, such as type II diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. In response, she proposed to strengthen education and publicity in preventing obesity, which should start in kindergarten. She also demanded that the high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar foods should be clearly marked on its packaging. Government has the responsibility to provide the public with more information. The endocrinologist of the Vienna General Hospital (AKH Wien) Bernhard Ludvik also stressed that the obesity problem 'is not only a cosmetic problem.''We must halt the development (of obesity) in Austria, otherwise we will no longer be able to finance the treatment with diabetes,' he warned. May 22 is the 'European Obesity Day.' 