Why Has the World Become Obese?

“If we truly had a medical system that had the patient as their priority, the money that is being spent to continually treat the symptoms of obesity would be spent on proper food, education, diet and exercise, creating a healthier society rather than drugging a sick one.”

I recall as a child how we were told at the dinner table that we needed to eat everything on our plates because there were starving children in Africa. Then, if that did not work, we would be shown pictures from UNICEF to drive the point home. Today the family circle rarely sits around the table as home cooked meals have been replaced by fast foods or processed foods that are lacking food value while filling the gut with empty calories. The ultimate reality for many people would be to eat whatever they wanted without exercise or restraint and not gain weight.

The U.S. obesity epidemic is deeply influenced by its complex relationship with food, marked by conflicting messages about diet and an American diet characterized by convenience-oriented fast food and large portions alongside a thriving $20 billion diet industry offering quick-fix weight loss solutions. This situation is aggravated by societal shifts towards longer work hours and less home time, driving the populace towards unhealthy eating habits and reliance on ineffective weight loss products, without tackling obesity’s underlying causes.

Complicating matters further is the public’s misunderstanding of nutrition, highlighted by the popularity of fad diets and misleading “health” foods, such as the 1990s’ low-fat products that replaced fats with harmful substitutes like hydrogenated oils and added sugars. This nutritional confusion, combined with a sedentary lifestyle and other factors like insufficient exercise and poor urban design, exacerbates the obesity issue.

The “solution” of the pharmaceutical companies comes in a form of a drug called Ozempic that was designed to treat diabetes; it can also help with weight-loss and the demand for the drug is causing hysteria. A sister medication, Wegovy, is specifically approved for the treatment of weight. Ozempic is FDA approved only for the treatment of diabetes but that does not seem to make any difference for the masses that want the drug because Ozempic is typically covered by insurance, whereas Wegovy often is not and with a yearly price tag of $20,000 USD, that is enough reason for most.

Ozempic is not safe for everyone, it can create the following conditions:

  • Pancreatitis
  • Type 1 diabetes
  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Problems with the pancreas or kidneys
  • Family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC)
  • Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2), an endocrine system condition

Even with these side effects—European regulators are reviewing Ozempic also for reportedly inducing suicidal thoughts among some users—this drug seems to be set for the largest selling drug in the world. If you do the math, this drug will cost healthcare plans tens of billions of dollars per year, but is that not the same pathway most medical conditions take? The pharmaceutical lobbyists convince or bribe politicians, then the drug companies place ads to the public to create demand. Once the public gets the fire started, doctors begin writing prescriptions off label—after all, Ozempic is a diabetes drug, which in some cases creates diabetes, and if their patients do not have diabetes, why do they need the drug? The thing is that untreated obesity will create diabetes. “The accumulation of an excessive amount of body fat can cause type 2 diabetes, and the risk of type 2 diabetes increases linearly with an increase in body mass index. Accordingly, the worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity has led to a concomitant increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes.”[1] I see they are fortune-tellers: treating one disease while getting ready for the next.

Ozempic[2] and Wegovy are now in such demand that there is a nationwide shortage of them. Pharmaceutical firms are rushing to keep pace amid increasing obesity rates in the U.S. The fact is the drug once started needs to be taken for life or the weight lost will return; one injection given per week for the rest of your life, talk about a racket. “Eli Lilly & Co. forecast 2024 sales ahead of Wall Street estimates as the company rolls out Zepbound, its weight-loss shot that’s widely expected to become the best-selling drug ever. (…) Analysts expect the drug to generate $2.41 billion this year.”[3]

According to a report from 2000 written by Paul Cullen in The Irish Times, “[f]or the first time in human history, the number of overweight people in the world rivals the number of underweight people.”[4] Barry Popkin, nutrition epidemiologist from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill also “discusses the growing problem of obesity, even in developing countries that only recently faced hunger as their primary diet challenge.”[5]

Now, it is estimated that about 2.6 billion people globally – 38% of the world population – are overweight or obese. According to the latest research by the World Obesity Federation, if current trends continue, it is  expected to rise to more than 4 billion people (51%) in 12 years’ time and the global economic impact of overweight and obesity will reach $4.32 trillion annually by 2035.[6]

World Obesity Federation argued that obesity must first be recognized as a disease to be properly treated. In my point of view this is the wrong direction to take, as the implications are multifaceted. First, it removes individual responsibility as the lifestyle choices made are set aside. The power for change is passed from the individual to the medical system each and every time a health condition is classified as a disease. It becomes easier when seen as a victim—“What I can do? I have a disease.” The system then assumes the power; the symptoms of obesity are treated, while the core issues remain. Obesity takes a hefty toll on the body and the mind in the following ways: high blood pressure; diabetes; stroke; heart attacks; some cancers; gallbladder disease and gallstones; osteoarthritis; gout; breathing problems, such as sleep apnea and asthma.

For perspective’s sake, 18% of the U.S. GDP[7] is currently spent on healthcare and the numbers are rising exponentially. The entire U.S. defense budget is $1.3 trillion, yet their healthcare costs are $4.7 trillion. 93% of Medicare claims are for chronic disease, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “more than 40% of school-aged children and adolescents have at least one chronic illness.”[8] If we truly had a medical system that had patients as their priority, the money that is being spent to continually treat the symptoms of obesity would be spent on proper food, education, diet and exercise, creating a healthier society rather than drugging a sick one.

Despite the fact that the obesity epidemic seems to be a current problem affecting the future, some scientist suggest that its origins may be further back than we thought. One provocative conclusion of a study published in Science Advances; it “purports to push the obesity epidemic’s origin back to as early as the 1930s. Historical measurements from hundreds of thousands of Danish youth show that in the decades before the problem was officially recognized, the heaviest members of society were already getting steadily bigger.”[9]

The timeline does not really matter if we understand that the tendencies are not moving to a better direction and we are really facing devastating consequences if we do not change radically.[10]

Products Life Choice offer for weight loss:

References:

[1] Klein, Samuel et al. 2022.

[2] Watch The Tucker Carlson Encounter: The Case Against Ozempic to find out more about Ozempic’s potential safety disaster: https://tuckercarlson.com/the-case-against-ozempic/

[3] Muller, Madison. 2024.

[4] Cullen, Paul. 2000.

[5] Mirsky, Steve. 2007.

[6] World Obesity. 2023.

[7] Shafrin, Jason. 2023.

[8] Pavilonis, Valerie. 2024.

[9] Rains, Molly. 2023.

[10] You can check obesity rates in your country here: https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/obesity-rates-by-country/