Moving Toward Health Policy that Respects Both Science and People Living with Obesity

Through four decades of rising obesity, health policy has been mostly ineffective. Prevention policies failed to reverse rising trends in prevalence, partly because they are often based on biased mental models about what should work to prevent obesity, rather than empiric evidence for what does work. Bias toward people living with obesity harms health, while contributing to poor access to effective care that might serve to improve it. Better public policy will come from an increased application of objective obesity science, research to fill knowledge gaps, and respect for the human dignity of people who live with obesity.