Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future?
The related overweight, obesity and diabetes epidemics are more than five decades old and have progressed inexorably. A billion people in the world are now obese, and nearly a billion are diabetic. The belief that diabetes is caused by overweight and obesity has led to public health advice focused o...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
|
| Series: | Health Systems & Reform |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23288604.2025.2518797 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849683398224773120 |
|---|---|
| author | Barbara McPake |
| author_facet | Barbara McPake |
| author_sort | Barbara McPake |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The related overweight, obesity and diabetes epidemics are more than five decades old and have progressed inexorably. A billion people in the world are now obese, and nearly a billion are diabetic. The belief that diabetes is caused by overweight and obesity has led to public health advice focused on lifestyle change as the main preventive approach. This advice has shifted over time, and some parts of the public health community have started to switch from a lifestyle to an environmental perspective. There is a growing but not yet conclusive evidence base that rather than diabetes being caused by overweight and obesity, the three conditions have a common third cause, and difficulties in controlling weight and blood glucose emerge in tandem. New classes of medications, including semaglutides and tirzepatides, effectively address these processes. They are in the early stages of development but have accumulated a safety record over the last decade. They are largely currently available only to those who can afford their relatively high cost, but new generations of related medications are capable of becoming lower cost, and wider access to them could transform the overweight, obesity and diabetes pandemics. There is a marked absence of enthusiasm for their potential role in the public health community. This appears to reflect stigmatized attitudes to overweight and obesity, which contrast with attitudes to diabetes. A successful medical treatment may be the key to resolving that stigma and reversing the three pandemics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c1bf1059bf744fbbb4e2bab47f003acb |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2328-8604 2328-8620 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Systems & Reform |
| spelling | doaj-art-c1bf1059bf744fbbb4e2bab47f003acb2025-08-20T03:23:52ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHealth Systems & Reform2328-86042328-86202025-12-0111110.1080/23288604.2025.2518797Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future?Barbara McPake0Nossal Institute for Global Health, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaThe related overweight, obesity and diabetes epidemics are more than five decades old and have progressed inexorably. A billion people in the world are now obese, and nearly a billion are diabetic. The belief that diabetes is caused by overweight and obesity has led to public health advice focused on lifestyle change as the main preventive approach. This advice has shifted over time, and some parts of the public health community have started to switch from a lifestyle to an environmental perspective. There is a growing but not yet conclusive evidence base that rather than diabetes being caused by overweight and obesity, the three conditions have a common third cause, and difficulties in controlling weight and blood glucose emerge in tandem. New classes of medications, including semaglutides and tirzepatides, effectively address these processes. They are in the early stages of development but have accumulated a safety record over the last decade. They are largely currently available only to those who can afford their relatively high cost, but new generations of related medications are capable of becoming lower cost, and wider access to them could transform the overweight, obesity and diabetes pandemics. There is a marked absence of enthusiasm for their potential role in the public health community. This appears to reflect stigmatized attitudes to overweight and obesity, which contrast with attitudes to diabetes. A successful medical treatment may be the key to resolving that stigma and reversing the three pandemics.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23288604.2025.2518797Diabetesmedicinesobesityoverweightpublic health |
| spellingShingle | Barbara McPake Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future? Health Systems & Reform Diabetes medicines obesity overweight public health |
| title | Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future? |
| title_full | Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future? |
| title_fullStr | Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future? |
| title_short | Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes: Global Trends and a Better Future? |
| title_sort | overweight obesity and diabetes global trends and a better future |
| topic | Diabetes medicines obesity overweight public health |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23288604.2025.2518797 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT barbaramcpake overweightobesityanddiabetesglobaltrendsandabetterfuture |