We are getting obesity fundamentally wrong. Around 70 per cent of people living with obesity recognise they have a chronic disease. Yet nearly two-thirds of them believe they could overcome the disease through willpower alone. This is a big contradiction. And it is not just a misunderstanding - unfortunately, it is one of the most significant barriers to them obtaining effective medical care. This wrong belief leaves millions of people navigating alone a serious and complex medical disease while blaming themselves for not being able to control their weight and subsequent health conditions.
Despite decades of scientific progress, obesity is still widely framed as a question of discipline rather than biology - and there is data to substantiate. A new Global Perceptions of Obesity Study published by IPSOS in March 2026, spanning 14 countries, including the UAE, makes this disconnect impossible to ignore.
A chronic disease treated as choice
This outdated framing is harmful. When obesity is reduced to personal responsibility, patients delay seeking medical help, healthcare professionals themselves hesitate to intervene, and policymakers deprioritise, investment in a disease reaching a billion humans worldwide. The result: A disease that remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. This, despite its well-established direct links to other potentially deadly diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and 13 different types of cancer.
What does science tell us? It tells us a different story. Framing obesity as a basic lifestyle choice ignores this complex reality - and underscores the need for science-based solutions to be considered.
Encouraging signs from the UAE
There are, however, signs of progress. According to the Ipsos study, 94 per cent of people living with obesity in the UAE say they have considered managing their weight, one of the highest figures across all 14 major countries surveyed. Awareness of the biological and genetic drivers of obesity also stands above the global average, at 63 per cent in the UAE compared with 51 per cent globally. On the positive side, almost one-third of UAE residents living with obesity are more likely to use prescription medication for weight management compared to the global average of 23 per cent. Engagement with much-needed psychological support is also higher than in most surveyed countries.
This positive and more beneficial approach to the health of people living with obesity reflects, in the UAE, years of deliberate investment in a healthcare ecosystem that increasingly treats obesity as a medical condition rather than a lifestyle issue- from regulatory openness to rapid innovation access and to more ecosystem-integrated care approaches.
Closing the gap between understanding and action
The past decades have brought meaningful advances in how we understand and manage the disease. Yet the dominant public narrative remains broadly anchored in harmful self-blame, non-scientific simplification, and the false promise that willpower alone is enough to get treatment of the disease.
What closing this gap requires is action on three fronts:
First, investment in public health education that reflects the biological complexity of the condition, including its genetic underpinnings, its neurological drivers, and its interaction with metabolic and hormonal systems.
Second, healthcare systems must make comprehensive obesity care more accessible. That means upskilling clinicians when necessary, improving patients’ access to appropriate treatment options, and creating holistic care pathways that support patients over the long term.
Third, societal stigma must be confronted directly. Stigma keeps patients from seeking the medical care and support they need, discourages open clinical conversations, and limits the urgency of policy response.
Time to align systems with science
The Ipsos study makes one thing clear: lack of motivation is not the problem. In markets such as the UAE, people are ready to act.
Addressing obesity requires coordinated action across the entire healthcare ecosystem- from policy to clinical practice to public understanding.
Some 71 per cent of people living with obesity already understand their condition. It is time the systems around them catch up and support them accordingly.
