It is not the willpower that is lacking in the obese: it is the right treatment

“Eat less and move more»: No, that’s not enough. “It’s a constitution problem”: no, that’s not true. “As you grow older, your overweight will pass»: No, it doesn’t happen. The commonplaces associated with excessive weight are a subject that is too little addressed. We have always lived in the belief that obesity is the result of an underlying laziness, a lack of willpower and an absolute inability to control one’s appetite. But is not so. Already on November 13, 2019, the Italian Parliament voted a motion that it recognizes obesity as a medical problemwhile its recognition at European level as of March 4, 2021 chronic disease. Because being obese or overweight does not mean a lack of commitment and willpower, it means being affected by a very complex multifactorial disease that depends on several factors genetic, environmental and psychological and that it is associated with the development of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, liver disease and at least 12 types of cancers.

“Obesity is not an aesthetic problem, but a disorder to be addressed on a scientific level”, emphasizes the professor Michele Carruba, Director of the Study and Research Center on Obesity of the University of Milan. «There is a stigma towards those who suffer from it, because they are considered unable to lose weight. In fact, we know that hyperphagia is not the cause – it is the symptom of obesity. And people don’t eat more because they are vicious, but because they are sick and the dysfunction they suffer is linked to specific biological mechanisms ».

The first problem is the “negation”

A big gap in the consideration of the disease concerns the same “sick”, which they often have a distorted perception of one’s condition: 62% of people with obesity and even a quarter of those severely obese consider themselves “just overweight”. The results of some studies conducted by the Danish pharmaceutical company say so Novo Nordisk on the attitudes, behaviors and obstacles for the treatment of obesity recently presented to theEuropean Congress on Obesity 2022. The photograph that emerges from these studies also includes children and adolescents with weight problems: one in three parents do not recognize their child’s obesity and one in four adolescents do not realize they are obese. What’s more, two-thirds of young people who realize they are obese don’t know how to deal with the disease and feel solely responsible for their own weight loss.
«The unawareness about the disease and the lack of proper medical support lead many people to tell each other a series of false truths, to better tolerate their condition and survive a society, often cruel, which stigmatizes those suffering from obesity. Unfortunately, however, denying one’s condition is common practice ”, he highlights Iris ZaniPresident of the association Obese Friends Onlus.

When is “obesity”? And when are you “overweight”?

According to the indications reported by the Ministry of Health, the difference between overweight and obesity is measured using a scheme that takes the name of BMI (Body Mass Index), i.e. theBody Mass Index (BMI), which calculates the percentage of body fat in relation to the height of the individual.
The BMI is obtained by dividing the weight (expressed in kg) by the square of the height (expressed in meters).
The Body Mass Index is widely used, even if it provides incomplete information (for example, it does not give information on the distribution of fat in the body and does not distinguish between fat mass and lean mass). Generally speaking, the definitions of the World Health Organization dictate that one is in overweight when your BMI is equal to or greater than 25 to 29.99 and yes is obese when BMI equal to or greater than 30. (Here a tool to measure your own).

The “weight” of disinformation

Since 1980, obesity has tripled. In Europe, 58.6% of the population is overweight (including Italy) and of this percentage subjects with obesity represent 20%. Even more worrying is the situation of children: in Italy they are obese for 40%, a percentage well above the European average of 30%.
Yet only 8% of obesity cases today are treated by professionals. This is because misinformation about this disease is still widespread.
“Today, unfortunately, obesity is associated with a social stigma, including a clinical one, due to the inaccurate or completely wrong news that still too often circulates on the subject”, underlines Giovanna Rosso, Senior Director Obesity Novo Nordisk Italia. “In fact, even if 91% of doctors affirm that obesity is a chronic disease, still 8 out of 10 experts believe that it must be addressed by improving one’s lifestyle”.

A campaign that “tells the truth”

Since obesity, with the disorders that derive from it, also entails large costs on the health system, a strong attention must now be placed on prevention. Therefore, not only by highlighting the presence of new drugs active against obesity, effective and with a cardiovascular and metabolic benefit, but also by promoting widespread information that guides towards a change in the social perception of this disease.

Precisely for this reason the awareness campaign was born Don’t hide behind false beliefs. The truth about weight promoted by Novo Nordisk in partnership with Obese Friends Onlus, Italian Association of Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition, Association of Endocrinologists Doctors, Italian Association of Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Foundation, Italian Obesity Network, Obesity policy engagement network, Italian Society of Obesity Surgery and Metabolic Diseases, Italian Society of Endocrinology, Italian Society of General Medicine, Italian Society of Internal Medicine, Italian Obesity Society.

A wide-ranging collaboration that aims to involve public opinion on the difficulties that people with obesity face on a daily basis, supporting those who suffer from it and encouraging them to consult a doctor, but above all to combat incorrect and widespread information on theme, often reduced to a simple power problem.

The campaign, based on a series of photographic shots with a strong emotional impact made by Davide Bellocchio, starts from some false beliefs that revolve around the disease. Images, videos and contributions of various types in support and integration of the campaign are shared on the site The truth about weight created by Novo Nordisk in 2020 with the aim of increasing people’s awareness of the real causes of obesity, the correct behaviors to adopt and the opportunities for treatment.

“Awareness campaigns like this are of paramount importance,” he concludes Iris Zani of Amici Obesi Onlus. “In fact, in addition to dispelling the erroneous idea that excess weight is personal responsibility, caused by wrong habits, and that people affected by this chronic disease can manage it independently, it helps those directly involved not to feel discriminated and alone” .

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