Healthcare Professionals: - Obesity is a Disease - Our window of opportunity to ensure better, more

Although an increasing number of organisations and countries Obesity is also a relapsing disease: without now recognise obesity as a disease, many still do addressing the obesogenic environment, individuals not, hampering attempts to address the pandemic.1 affected remain exposed to the same risks and, Obesity is now one of the 21st century’s greatest due to the bodily responses described above ar. [...] know that 40% to 70% of obesity can be attributed to genetics.iii, iv Genetically, the majority of the Many of the determinants of obesity lie outside the global population is pre-programmed to store fat in traditional jurisdiction of the health sector and the order to avoid starvation. [...] not only policies to prevent obesity: it is vital to enable the billion people living with the disease Obesogenic environments are environments that the best chance of recovery. [...] people to seek medical care, shift the public discourse away from individual blame and could help Like other diseases, obesity impacts our bodies ensure that access to treatment is available for all and minds in a number of ways affecting appetite, that need it.vii satiety, metabolis m, body-fat distribution and stress Recognising obesity as a disease can also help reduce eating behaviours. [...] The Japanese Association for the Study of Obesity (2002), Portugal (2004), the American Obesity Society (2008) the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (2010), the American Medical Association (2013), the Canadian Medical Association (2015), the Nagoya Declaration (2015), World Obesity Federation (2017), Royal College of Physicians (2018), Italy (2019).