We are now in the era of weight-loss drugs. Decisions on how these drugs will be used are likely to shape our future health and even what our society might look like. And, as researchers are finding, they are already toppling the belief that obesity is simply a moral failing of the weak-willed.
Weight-loss drugs are already at the heart of the national debate. This week, the new Labour government suggested they could be a tool to help obese people in England off benefits and back into work.
That announcement – and the reaction to it – has held a mirror up to our own personal opinions around obesity and what should be done to tackle it.
Is obesity something that people bring on themselves and they just need to make better life choices? Or is it a societal failing with millions of victims that needs stronger laws to control the types of food we eat?
Are effective weight-loss drugs the sensible choice in an obesity crisis? Are they being used as a convenient excuse to duck the big issue of why so many people are overweight in the first place?
Personal choice v nanny state; realism v idealism – there are few medical conditions that stir up such heated debate.
I can’t resolve all those questions for you – it all depends on your personal views about obesity and the type of country you want to live in. But as you think them over, there are some further things to consider.
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