60% of adults worldwide will be overweight or obese by 2050: study

The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure

Oh wow, what a shocking prediction - who could have possibly seen this coming? Do we reckon, just maybe, it's because we've handed over our health to the same industries profiting from our decline? Giant food conglomerates stuff people with ultra-processed garbage, and when their bodies inevitably break down, massive pharmaceutical conglomerates swoop in with a magic pill - not to fix the root cause of course, just to "manage" the symptoms FOREVER. And people eat it up - literally.

How about this - instead of turning to the same corporations that got us here, how about we focus on real solutions: whole foods, physical movement, and personal responsibility? The only losers in that scenario would be the Big Food/Big Pharma tag-team that then wouldn't be making trillions.

Doing my part.

Convenience and cheap when over good for you every time.

Since most people can't chose the good for you stuff, the way to make it more attractive is to heavily tax (100%) the processed foods and subsidize the best, healthy, ingredients. Also, prohibit advertising for non-healthy foods - not just foods that claim to be healthy - like all the "zero net carbs" or "sugar free" stuff.

The more countries that DO NOT follow America's lead on this, the better.

Gotta run - taco bell night.

/s

Oh wow, what a shocking prediction - who could have possibly seen this coming? Do we reckon, just maybe, it's because we've handed over our health to the same industries profiting from our decline?

This makes absolutely no sense, the ones profiting and the ones doing something about it are not the same, putting everything into the same "industry" bag is an obvious mistaken argument.

Chronic diseases are treated first by lifestyle changes, no industry have changed that, that people systematically fail in this frontline of treatment depends on many other factors (that antiscientific propaganda groups really want to ignore just to blame science) but even in that aspect medical science is still advancing to fight it. Of course the people that endlessly repeat the mantra "it is simple and easy so everybody can just lose weight" are doing their best to be in the way and make the problem worse.

How about this - instead of turning to the same corporations that got us here, how about we focus on real solutions: whole foods, physical movement, and personal responsibility? 

Welcome to the 20th century, where this became the focus of medical treatment, maybe later you can reach the 21st, where this "simple" solution is found out to be everything but easy.

"it is simple and easy so everybody can just lose weight"

It is simple but not easy. There is not a single living person who would not lose weight if they consumed fewer calories than they expended over time. But sadly for some, lifestyle choices are hard to make and others just can't be bothered. Then you have the "its my glands/metabolism/big sugar/whatever excuse" crowd.

A long time ago being fat used to be a clear signifier of wealth. Today it tends to be the opposite. When healthy food is extremely expensive and trash food is cheap, it's no wonder people ever fatter. And when you have to work two jobs in order to pay for that trash food, exercising is the last thing on your mind.

You can not have a serious discussion about the obesity epidemic without also considering the socio-economical aspects.

Welcome to the 20th century, where this became the focus of medical treatment, maybe later you can reach the 21st, where this "simple" solution is found out to be everything but easy.

All you've just done is squawk "lifestyle changes first," then immediately pivot to selling lifelong drug dependency when those "first-line treatments" are set up to fail in a system designed to keep people sick LOL!

No, the only ones making the problem worse are those pushing the idea that obesity is some unsolvable medical mystery instead of the predictable outcome of ultra-processed food, sedentary living, and a culture that rewards victimhood over accountability. But sure, keep pretending injecting ourselves skinny is "scientific progress" instead of a billion-dollar band-aid.

As a disclaimer, this will use BMI, so lots of gym rats will go down as overweight regardless of body fat percentage simply because muscle mass makes them heavy for their height. Whole rugby teams will be "obese" etc.

Mostly though, its non-gym rats eating mass-produced highly fattening foods which are highly profitable for their manufacturers and require little or no preparation for increasingly time-poor people. Some of this time poverty is self inflicted due to screen time, but not all of it is.

All you've just done is squawk "lifestyle changes first," then immediately pivot to selling lifelong drug dependency when those "first-line treatments" are set up to fail in a system designed to keep people sick LOL!

Giving a solution that works faster than the full society/healthcare reform necessary to guarantee success in the lifestyle changes is nothing to dismiss just because you have a heavy antiscientific bias. This gives a solution that save countless lives without it in any way making those changes less likely to happen.

You also completely avoided the main argument, which is that doctors are the ones doing what you misrepresent as lacking in the medical attention of the patients. Your "solution" is already being used and it stills could not avoid the problem precisely because of people that like to pretend this is something easy to do when reality clearly demonstrates this is not the case.

No, the only ones making the problem worse are those pushing the idea that obesity is some unsolvable medical mystery instead of the predictable outcome of ultra-processed food, sedentary living, and a culture that rewards victimhood over accountability. 

Completely wrong, there is no mystery nor unsolvable thing about obesity, it is just much more complicated than what antiscientific propaganda groups like to pretend, where people magically become successful when they are simply told to do something without addressing the actual causes that make it so difficult to do it. Doctors and other medical professionals on the other hand do work to address these problems and recognize it is something that requires a lot of effort and resources, this article being a very good example of it.

But sure, keep pretending injecting ourselves skinny is "scientific progress" instead of a billion-dollar band-aid.*

You have been corrected many times in this misrepresentation you make about medical treatments, yet you keep repeating the false claim even when knowing it is false. Nobody is "injected thin" because people still have to do all the different lifestyle changes that bring the weight loss, just with less chances of failing. No band-aid but lives saved until society itself completely changes (Making the US more like Japan for example) making the changes easier to make.

You keep trying to say that people should just die from the problems of obesity until society changes, doctors are fortunately against this very negative suggestion and instead work to save lives using every tool available.

Giving a solution that works faster than the full society/healthcare reform necessary to guarantee success in the lifestyle changes is nothing to dismiss just because you have a heavy antiscientific bias. This gives a solution that save countless lives without it in any way making those changes less likely to happen.

Yet another false dilemma. Questioning pharmaceutical conglomerates magic injections has nothing to do with "opposing science". Here's a (not so) radical thought: being pro-health actually means addressing the root causes of obesity, not just slapping a pharmaceutical Band-Aid on the problem and pretending it's solved. Even if you personally think it does, society actually doesn't need a "quick fix" from the same industry that profits off keeping people sick; it needs a fundamental shift toward real health, nutrition, and accountability. You need to stop pretending that lifelong dependence on a drug is somehow a "solution" rather than just ANOTHER revenue stream.

Yet another false dilemma.

Nothing false about the dilemma, either wait until there is a complete change of all the different factors that are in the way of the patients or doctors act now and use anything and everything that is proved to be better for the patients. You offer no other alternative but to avoid using things that medical science have developed to address the patients and replace it with nothing but what is already been done and is not working.

being pro-health actually means addressing the root causes of obesity

Which again requires changes in society, healthcare, culture, etc. that in the best case would take decades and in countries like the US are being actually being reverted right now. Your argument is to let all those patients die until this is done as if this would make the changes happen (it has had no effect and the problem is not new, so it obviously will not have any effect in the future either). Once again, doctors are fortunately much more ethical and instead of trying to convince others that patients should be left to die as hostages they simply use everything they can to help those patients AND also work to change all the other factors involved as well. This is a much more positive and defensible attitude.

ou need to stop pretending that lifelong dependence on a drug is somehow a "solution" rather than just ANOTHER revenue stream.

It is a solution for all those patients that will remain alive and healthy until the "fundamental shift" is achieved. Is like giving a transfusion to a patient that is on shock because of anemia derived from malnutrition. Your suggestion is to let the patient die because the transfusion is not "addressing" the malnutrition, doctors on the other hand clearly see the value to keep the patient alive until the malnutrition can be corrected.

Which again requires changes in society, healthcare, culture, etc. that in the best case would take decades and in countries like the US are being actually being reverted right now. Your argument is to let all those patients die until this is done as if this would make the changes happen (it has had no effect and the problem is not new, so it obviously will not have any effect in the future either).

No, that's just the classic defeatist excuse - "it's too hard, so let's just DRUG everyone instead." Changes in society, healthcare, and culture don't magically happen overnight, but that doesn't mean we should bend over and let the pharmaceutical conglomerates turn the population into lifelong customers instead of actually fixing the root causes of obesity.

And no, nobody is saying “let all those patients die" - that's just your silly attempt at emotional manipulation to justify pumping people full of expensive, side-effect-ridden drugs instead of advocating for real health.

How does obesity crisis keeps getting worse despite all these miracle meds, while people like you pretend needing to turn the human body into a pharmaceutical subscription service is the only way forward?

Ditch the sugar. take up walking like 25,000 to 30,000 step a day. I was 95 kg on th 01/10/2024 today I am 79 kgs aiming for 75kg. To achieve 75kg from 79kg I have to take up light 10 minutes workout along with 25,000 to 30,000. I ditch the sugars and most I consume a day is 15gm of honey and 2 to 4 pieces of fruit a day. fructose still ins,t a healthy sugar but if you go a sweet tooth it should do. Salads and no more then 200gm of meats a day and you will reach you healthy weight and still enjoy eating. I am 64 if your knee are crap ride a bike and not a e- bike. E-bike do nothing but give enjoyment.

As they say, you cannot outexercise a bad diet, so you have to watch what you eat, especially as you get older and your metabolism naturally slows down.

My main problem is having become a Japanese drinker. For British drinkers, "eating's cheating", but as a Japanese drinker, I now get mega munchies as soon as I touch booze. I can't have an unwind beer on its own.

How does obesity crisis keeps getting worse despite all these miracle meds, 

Because poor people can't afford the "miracle meds" or a healthy diet.

Move it or lose it rockers. The only real thing we do have in our total control is what we do and how we treat our own bodies. Apart from rare cases, we all have two legs and the ability to watch what we eat, drink and do!

To the greatest excuse making generation since sliced bread, have some dignity and take control of your own life and health. A thousand mile journey starts with one step, then another until you find your rhythm. It’s not rocket science unless you want it to be.

60% obese by 2050 does sound a bit rich, especially as AI starts to free us from the burden of tedious menial tasks and over-work. With all the health monitoring gadgets around now too everything ( looking forward to smart clothes! ) seems from here to be swinging in our favor.

A half glass full mind envisions a post AI world of abundance where will can finally reconnect with nature ( for those that want to ) , health , community and wellness. Let’s make it happen.

No, that's just the classic defeatist excuse 

Again, just because you don't want to recognize reality that does not make it an excuse, you provide zero alternatives beyond letting patients die. Just because you repeat that they "should" be able to lose weight just because you said so that does not make it true. It is very easy to prove the point when there is no recognized medical association that support your views, instead the doctors readily recognize that the problem is not simple and easy as you think and that using every tool available to save the patients is a justified measure while the US (as a very clear example) becomes more like Japan.

Changes in society, healthcare, and culture don't magically happen overnight, but that doesn't mean we should bend over and let the pharmaceutical conglomerates turn the population into lifelong customers instead of actually fixing the root causes of obesity.

And since you give zero alternatives then the choice is still the same, wait while patients die or use everything doctos have available until the many different factors that push for the obesity epidemic can be addressed, no need to let patients die for decades as you suggest.

And no, nobody is saying “let all those patients die" - that's just your silly attempt at emotional manipulation to justify pumping people full of expensive, side-effect-ridden drugs instead of advocating for real health.

You are when you try to mislead people into rejecting the treatments without offering anything in their place, just to wait a few decades (or many) and let those patients that will fail to change their lifestyles die without treatments. Again, you offer no alternative, no solution for all these people.

How does obesity crisis keeps getting worse despite all these miracle meds, while people like you pretend needing to turn the human body into a pharmaceutical subscription service is the only way forward?

Complete misrepresentation, the same as when you pretend the drugs do not require lifestyle changes when actually they just facilitate them. These are options that keep patients alive and that doctors defend as safe and effective when used under supervision. You saying the doctors are wrong for not letting those patients die is not an argument.

Ditch the sugar

This may surprise you, but patients and doctors already know very well what is necessary to do to lose weight, what is necessary is a way to actually do those changes permanently. This is as useful as saying to an alcoholic "just stop drinking", is an obvious solution that solves nothing. Anything simple that you can think off has been already tried without success by countless patients and their doctors.

Because poor people can't afford a healthy diet.

Ridiculous levels of mythology. "Too poor to eat healthy" is just code for "too lazy to cook real food." Oats/rice, beans, ground meat, and in-season vegetables are dirt cheap, but people prefer stock their pantries with energy drinks, chips, and instant noodles that cost just as much. The truth is, people just prioritize convenience over health and then whine about the consequences. Stop making excuses and pretending it's some tragic economic injustice, it's not.

I eat whatever I want, my waist size always fluctuates between 1-3 kg up or down. I would never deprive myself of good food.

Most fat people "really" don't want to be healthy, of course they say they do but not if that means changing their lifestyle for more than a week.

Again, just because you don't want to recognize reality that does not make it an excuse, you provide zero alternatives beyond letting patients die.

Sounds like sermon where personal responsibility is blasphemy, and the only "solution" is lifelong dependency on overpriced drugs. You keep repeating that people "should" just take the drugs because you say so, while ignoring the fact that every failed diet and lifestyle attempt is the direct result of a system designed to keep people sick and dependent.

The reality is simple: the food industry profits from making people obese, and pharmaceutical conglomerates profits from keeping them just sick enough to need medication for life. And yet, you keep pretending the only alternative is to let people die - anything to avoid admitting that fixing the real problem would make your beloved drug companies a whole lot less money!

Sounds like sermon where personal responsibility is blasphemy

Getting a treatment that allows successful lifestyle changes is completely assuming personal responsibility, this is why doctors do recommend pharmacological treatment as well as part of the many different tools available. Just because you mistakenly think this somehow absolves the patient from making any effort that does not make it less so, it only makes it clear you have a mistaken concept about how the drugs work.

You keep repeating that people "should" just take the drugs because you say so

No, not even once, this is a false accusation you make because you can't address the actual arguments. What the doctors (not me) say is that patients that can benefit from the drugs can take them and that would be good for them since it would allow for a much more healthy lifestyle

The reality is simple: the food industry profits from making people obese, and pharmaceutical conglomerates profits from keeping them just sick enough to need medication for life.

Which is contradicted by the simple fact that people (even on drugs that allow for lifesytle changes to be kept) represent less profit for them, and that the doctors (that themselves do not benefit from the sales of the drugs) still recommend them because they are better for the patients. It is impossible to believe in a conspiracy that includes every single medical organization.

And yet, you keep pretending the only alternative is to let people die

No, I am arguing that this is the only alternative that you give.

The current situation means many obese people will fail trying to lose the weight, doctors have many tools to reduce this, including drugs, and also try to change things so the rest of the factors that promote obesity can be addressed (increasing inclusivity, controlling what companies can sell as food, etc.) but that will take decades (more now that the priorities of the government have changed).

This means that all those patients that would fail until the factors are controlled have two options.

Do what the doctors recommend and lose weight so they can live longer healthier lives.

Do what you recommend (nothing above what is already been done) and remain obese to die a premature death.

Most fat people "really" don't want to be healthy, of course they say they do but not if that means changing their lifestyle for more than a week.

Citation needed, medical professionals contradict this very simplistic view and say patients clearly recognize the risks for their health and those that get support will persevere and lose weight by changing their lifestyle.

Ridiculous levels of mythology. 

My last comment was deleted so I'll just post the links without comments:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(23)00139-4/fulltext

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3198075/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/aug/09/poverty-causes-obesity-low-income-families-need-to-be-better-off-to-eat-well

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert

Ditch the sugar

Even better is ditch the carbs.

This is as useful as saying to an alcoholic "just stop drinking", is an obvious solution that solves nothing. Anything simple that you can think off has been already tried without success by countless patients and their doctors.

What most doctors say regarding eating is as useful as saying to an alcoholic "drink in moderation" or "drink in a balanced manner".

Even better is ditch the carbs.

Carbohydrate at healthy levels is much better than completely eliminating them, the medical consensus is that diets that recommend completely eliminating carbohydrates are unhealthy and subject the patients to many unnecessary risks.

What most doctors say regarding eating is as useful as saying to an alcoholic "drink in moderation" or "drink in a balanced manner".

Which is why doctors not simply say it and assume it would be effective but instead use a vast array of tools to support the patient as much as possible, from personalized nutrition/excercise focused sessions with an specialist to pharmacological help. Yet people still believe they know better than the doctors and think that just telling a patient to lose weight is going to get him to that goal.

Virus: ditch the sugar or get off the piss don’t work for weak ass people. If you a weak ass they we fail and that is because of bad parenting not because they can do it. I was a 24 can of beer drinker a day and doctor said your liver is stuff or you have psoriasis of the liver and you need a liver transplant I said stuf that I get of the piss. I when through 2 to 3 week of sensory overload at 36 and never look back so yeah doctor say don’t do this or that you just do it and take it like a strong man or women only weak ass fail

My last comment was deleted so I'll just post the links without comments:

Cool Copy'N'Pasting, but NO, poverty doesn't shove processed garbage into people's mouths. Food conglomerates play that role, preying on the vulnerable with addictive, chemical-laden sludge disguised as "affordable" meals.

Again, a sack of oats/rice, beans, ground meat, and frozen veggies costs the same OR LESS as a cart full of sugary, ultra-processed junk, but guess which one keeps people coming back like lab rats hooked on high-fructose corn syrup?

Blaming poverty is just an (unsurprising) excuse.

Getting a treatment that allows successful lifestyle changes is completely assuming personal responsibility, this is why doctors do recommend pharmacological treatment as well as part of the many different tools available. Just because you mistakenly think this somehow absolves the patient from making any effort that does not make it less so, it only makes it clear you have a mistaken concept about how the drugs work.

There is nothing remotely "personal responsibility" about relying on a pharmaceutical crutch because actually putting in the effort to fix your lifestyle is just too hard. If the drugs truly required "successful lifestyle changes" to work, then why do so many people take them as a first resort instead of a last? The only thing these drugs guarantee is a lifetime customer for Big Pharma, because once you come off them - spoiler alert - the weight piles right back on... not to the mention the debilitating side-effects involved as well.

Citation needed

Not really. Just look at all the fat people who say they want to lose weight but just carry on with their exact same lifestyle. The one that makes them fat and keeps them fat.

Food conglomerates play that role, preying on the vulnerable with addictive, chemical-laden sludge disguised as "affordable" meals.

And these are sold to...? Yep: poor people. You are right to be angry at the "food conglomerates", but you're missing a big part of the equation.

Again, a sack of oats/rice, beans, ground meat, and frozen veggies costs the same OR LESS as a cart full of sugary, ultra-processed junk, but guess which one keeps people coming back like lab rats hooked on high-fructose corn syrup?

Again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert

If you think there is absolutely no link between poverty and obesity, that's your prerogative, but just be aware it goes against actual facts and reality.

And these are sold to...? Yep: poor people. You are right to be angry at the "food conglomerates", but you're missing a big part of the equation.

This might sound WILD but grocery stores actually don't have some magical force field that blocks poor people from buying fresh produce, lean proteins, and whole grains.

Junk food is marketed aggressively, yes 100%, but no one is physically shoving it in anyone's mouths.

The real issue is that the conglomerates profit off addiction, and instead of acknowledging that personal choices play the biggest role, it sounds like you're saying poor people have no agency whatsoever. Is that what you're saying?

Virus: ditch the sugar or get off the piss don’t work for weak ass people.

Irrelevant, because the problem is not "weak ass people" as your prejudice misrepresent, these are patients for whom a large variety of reasons make it realistically impossible to persevere in lifestyle changes so health professionals have a lot of different tools to help that fortunately are much better than just lie to the patients telling them it is all their fault and they should be successful just because someone told them to.

I was a 24 can of beer drinker a day and doctor said your liver is stuff or you have psoriasis of the liver and you need a liver transplant I said stuf that I get of the piss.

I will have to introduce you to the concept that people are different and have different factors going on their lives, your personal experience is as useful to others as someone saying that they have lived a century without health problems even while drinking to stupor every day.

When the medical science professionals say this is not as simple as blaming will power then it is clear that random people on the internet saying the professionals are wrong is not really worth paying attention.

Cool Copy'N'Pasting, but NO, poverty doesn't shove processed garbage into people's mouths.

That is not what the scientific studies about the topic can prove, that is just a bad misrepresentation you are making because you refuse to accept the science is right and your claim is wrong.

If the drugs truly required "successful lifestyle changes" to work, then why do so many people take them as a first resort instead of a last?

First, how many are "many people" and how do you know they take the drugs as first resort? making up things is a really clear indication of not having any actual argument to defend what you say. The simple fact that so many people fail and that you are completely unable to give an alternative that is not being already tried right now and solved nothing.

The only thing these drugs guarantee is a lifetime customer for Big Pharma, because once you come off them - spoiler alert - the weight piles right back on

Except this is not true, and many patients keep a lower weight for various periods of time before rebounding, which means they can be treated intermittently and still receive benefits. Of course the part you want others to ignore is that the only alternative you give for them is to fail as they do right now and die premature deaths.

Not really. Just look at all the fat people who say they want to lose weight but just carry on with their exact same lifestyle. The one that makes them fat and keeps them fat.

So no source, this means you are indirectly recognizing you can't support your claim in anything else but what you personally believe, even when the healthcare professionals clearly say this is not even remotely true.

Obesity is for weak ass people who had bad parenting

Any medical professional organization that support this claim? or is it just again a personal opinion based on prejudices that you are trying to pass as fact? how do you explain that the actual professionals that deal with the problem say you are wrong?

Obesity is arguably the easiest health problem for the vast majority of people to avoid. If it's not number-one in that category, it's definitely in the top five

Have you read half of the books ever written on health problems?