Laura A. Schmidt is a professor of health policy in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Luc L. Hagenaars is assistant professor of health policy at Amsterdam University Medical Center. Their system-mapping analysis can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13705.
This piece argues that while obesity rates in the United States have soared due to the prevalence of ultra-processed foods, the blame is often placed on individuals rather than the commercial food system. The authors suggest that the widespread use of GLP-1 agonist medications like Ozempic could be a turning point. These drugs, by reducing cravings for ultra-processed foods and shifting the scientific understanding of obesity toward addiction models, may help society reframe the issue as a public health problem driven by hazardous commercial products. This shift could potentially pave the way for policy changes similar to those successfully implemented for tobacco and alcohol, ultimately leading to a more collective approach to addressing the obesity crisis.
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