The food industry should take more responsibility for global obesity in the same way big tobacco has been shamed for causing millions of cancer-related deaths, a leading expert has said.
Global public health policy experts presented their findings at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, and claimed a new age of weight-busting drugs could shift the blame for obesity from individuals onto the food industry.
Restrictions on tobacco and alcohol consumption have been rare public health successes, reducing deaths related to smoking and heavy drinking around the world.
Meanwhile, adult obesity has almost doubled since 1990, with one in eight people around the world now thought to be obese and exposed to killer illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
That rise has coincided with a boom in ultra-processed foods that are laden with sugars and fats to improve the taste, and even make them addictive.
Food companies need to do much more to help reduce obesity levels, said Dr Simon Barquera, director of the Centre for Research in Nutrition and Health of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, and president of the World Obesity Federation.
“The food industry is not doing enough. There is new science that shows ultra-processed foods are a real problem that are conditioning the shifts in patterns of diets around the world,” he told The National.
“The industry needs to let regulators act within governments, to try to decrease products that have problematic nutrient profiles. We need to reduce consumption of salt around the world, as well as other unhealthy products, and increase consumption of traditional diets that are healthier for humans and the planet.”
Weight of responsibility
Weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy are forcing change in the food industry. Lead study author, assistant professor Luc Louis Hagenaars at the Department of Public Health in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, said new-age drugs are changing attitudes towards obesity.
“The ‘Ozempic Era’ offers a pivotal moment to challenge deeply ingrained cultural assumptions about obesity as a personal failing,” he said. “By leveraging the broader impacts of new obesity drugs, society can foster collective responsibility and generate the necessary policy momentum to mitigate the root cause of the obesity crisis through comprehensive food system reforms.
“While we acknowledge this new era also has potential risks for further medicalisation, we believe there is an opportunity for a societal reorientation that could finally address the systemic drivers of obesity.”
Obesity and excess weight is responsible for around four million deaths annually, and reduces national productivity by around 3.3 per cent, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said.
The emergence of GLP-1 medications, which significantly reduce hunger cravings and food noise, has the potential to reverse that trend, placing responsibility firmly at the door of food producers. The food industry is already beginning to take note, to ensure profits keep pace with changing consumer demand.
Major retailers are advertising GLP-1-friendly foods in smaller packages, with meals and snacks loaded with protein and fibre additives. In the US, supermarkets are stocked with products by Nestle, Conagra and Mission Foods branded as GLP-1 friendly, while others promise nutrient-dense products aimed at consumers focused on weight loss.
Science is also experiencing the shifting sands of change, as more is understood about obesity and the addiction models associated with ultra-processed, highly palatable foods packed with industrially engineered ingredients.
In the UAE, 22.4 per cent of adults currently live with obesity, according to the National Health Survey, conducted by the Ministry of Health and Prevention last year.
Among children aged six to 17, that figure stands at 16.1 per cent. A report by the World Obesity Federation projects that almost 7.5 million people in the UAE will be overweight or obese by 2035, with annual associated costs forecast at $12 billion a year.
Public perception
However, changing public attitudes towards ultra-processed foods are likely to be the greatest trigger for change.
The World Health Organisation said increasing excise taxes on alcohol, sugar and tobacco, alongside marketing restrictions, proved a low-cost, highly effective measure in increasing healthy years in both low and high income populations.
In January, the UAE’s Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Authority imposed a tax rate directly based on the amount of sugar per 100ml in soft drinks.
Emil Kongshoj Larsen is executive vice president of international operations at Novo Nordisk, the Danish manufacturers of semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, used to treat diabetes and obesity respectively.
“We see in the clinical research, available evidence that people not only eat less when they start on a GLP-1, but also eat differently, so less sweet, less savoury and healthier options,” he said. “That, of course, is impacting the food industry. There are even some food companies that have taken a little bit of a hit on their valuation.
“Now they have started looking to offer nutrition that supports a weight-loss ambition and treatments. We are very willing to go into a discussion with them and to collaborate in promoting not only medicine but also a healthy lifestyle.”
US firm Eli Lilly has launched its oral weight-loss pill, Foundayo, in the UAE, and Novo Nordisk is awaiting regulatory approval on its semaglutide pill, Wegovy. That could open the door for more people to access weight-loss medications and change their dietary habits.
Dieticians can play a significant role in helping patients on fat-busting drugs maintain a healthy weight. They offer advice on correct nutrition to ensure adequate intake of protein, vitamins and minerals. A balanced diet during obesity therapy can help minimise gastrointestinal side effects and ingrain long-term healthy behaviours.
“There's a lot of openness to innovation in the UAE, and an abundance of front-running doctors,” he said. “We have big hopes to bring the pill to the UAE because we have best-in-class efficacy on par with injectable treatments.”
