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Obesity, The Big Truth
Obesity, The Big Truth
People living with obesity often face being shamed and blamed because of the harmful misconception that it is self-inflicted.
But it is a belief that is not supported by science. To the contrary, science is increasingly helping us understand that obesity is a frequent, serious, complex, relapsing, and chronic disease.
Physicians and other medical professionals are working alongside lived-experience experts and advocates to host events highlighting the newest science on obesity. This is helping to further everyone’s understanding and helping to overcome the long-held belief—which persists in many areas of healthcare, policymaking, and popular culture—that obesity is an individual’s fault.
We hope you will help us to draw attention to Obesity, The Big Truth.
A scientific paper from the European Association for the Study of Obesity highlights new ways of describing and understanding obesity as a frequent, serious, complex, relapsing, and chronic disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6547280/
Professor Carel le Roux: It is not your fault
Knowledge is power
Understanding obesity isn’t about blame, it’s about biology. Misconceptions and stigma keep people feeling ashamed and stuck, when what they need is understanding and evidence-based care.
The more we learn about obesity, the more we see that it can be mapped, measured, and treated. Knowledge can lead to action, and that’s where real change begins.
Obesity: The Big Truth is an initiative to inspire and drive a collective conversation, with experts and patients to discuss emerging science and to dispel these myths.
Our goal is to change attitudes and beliefs around obesity by:
Conveying scientific information
Engaging Health Care Professionals & experts in the field of obesity
Engaging & educating patients
“It’s not the calories in the food. It’s what the food does to the body.”
Dr Andrew Jenkinson
Dr Andrew Jenkinson, Surgeon and author of the best-selling book “Why We Eat (Too Much): The New Science of Appetite” and Dr George Dimitriadis, Obesity Specialist Endocrinologist, Kings College London, discussing Obesity: The Big Truth in a three-part documentary-style series of videos.
Taking control: finding your path.
While obesity isn’t your fault, it is your responsibility and our responsibility to find a treatment for the disease of obesity.
These treatments can be:
- Nutritional therapies
- Pharmacotherapies
- Surgical therapies
- Try the Weight Loss Trajectory Prediction tool
It is important to understand that if you do not respond to one of these treatments, it’s not because you’ve done something wrong. It is biology. If somebody responds very well, we continue with that treatment, but if they don’t respond, we either change the treatment or we use a combination of treatments.
Ultimately, that is how we control the biology of the disease in the long term and get most of the health gains.
What’s on your mind?
Tell us what’s on your mind and we’ll direct you to the most suitable information.
