VIDEO: Barriers to care persist amid increasing recognition of obesity as chronic disease

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So, there is increasing recognition that obesity is a complex, heterogeneous, chronic disease requiring medical treatment for most individuals to lose a clinically significant amount of weight and then maintain that weight loss long term. So that is the good news. The bad news is that there are still so many barriers to access. Weight bias, stigma and discrimination, for example, are tremendous ones that cannot be underestimated. Providers are actually less likely to treat obesity appropriately, if they view obesity as just a lifestyle problem that can be cured by eating less and exercising more. And patients are also less likely to seek treatment if they’re blaming willpower, instead of dysregulated hormonal pathways that aggressively fight weight loss. So, my hope is that weight bias, stigma and discrimination become less pervasive in our society. So, more individuals with obesity can access lifesaving care that they need.