Health Systems

Providing compassionate, accessible obesity care

Our current food systems are failing us. Multinational corporations dominate, producing unhealthy foods that are highly profitable, heavily marketed and widely accessible. These products, often ultra-processed and high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, contribute to rising obesity rates. The power imbalances between commercial and public health actors create ‘obesogenic’ food environments where healthier options are less desirable, less accessible and less affordable.

/assets/images/common/healthcare_asia.png

The challenge

People with obesity often experience judgement and discrimination in medical settings, discouraging them from seeking care and affecting the quality of care they receive.
Many health systems focus on NCDs like diabetes and heart disease without addressing obesity as a disease and a root cause of other NCDs.
High costs, lack of coverage, and limited availability of obesity services create significant barriers to treatment and management.

reach out to healthcare professionals

Our call to action

To strengthen our health systems, we need:

Recognition of obesity as a disease:
- Establish monitoring and surveillance systems to better understand and manage obesity at the population level.
Integration of obesity into NCD programmes:
- Integrate and scale up obesity services within primary healthcare, ensuring comprehensive and continuous care.
Improved accessibility and coverage:
- Include obesity services at all care levels of the health system (primary, secondary, tertiary) in insurance and universal health coverage packages.
Training for the health workforce:
- Provide education and resources to healthcare providers to deliver compassionate, stigma-free, and effective obesity care.
Person-centred and holistic care:
- Services should address the medical, psychological, and social aspects of obesity.

Stronger health systems that treats obesity as a chronic disease, offer holistic care, and prioritise prevention can reduce the burden of obesity-related diseases and improve quality of life for millions.

/assets/images/common/healthcare_white.png

SYSTEMS CHANGE

Find out more FOOD SYSTEMS

Find out more Environment and Society

Get involved with world obesity day!

spread the word Share resources