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Crystal Ball series

A personal look at the past and future of obesity science

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 74, pages 215–219 (2020)Cite this article

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The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition launched an initiative to have researchers write an essay on their path to nutrition science and their predictions for the future. This is an excellent idea as it allows younger researchers to understand the history of nutrition science, to appreciate the challenges their predecessors faced, and to give them potential directions for future research. I am honored to have been asked to contribute to this series and will focus on obesity science—a field that was not considered a science until relatively recently. I will focus predominantly on history and policy, not as much on scientific advances. The opinions in this paper are personal.

About 30% of the world’s population is overweight or obese [1], making this condition perhaps the most common disease on Earth. Excessive adipose tissue causes heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory disease, and diabetes, all of which are among the ten most common causes of death in the developed world. However, obesity is not listed among the most common diseases on Earth or among the leading causes of mortality because obesity still is not considered a disease by most health professionals, scientists, politicians, and the lay public. Workers in the field of obesity are keenly aware of the discrimination against obesity and numerous papers have described the overt and subconscious bias against overweight/obesity held by a majority of people from all walks of life, including health professionals [2]. It is not just obese people who suffer discrimination against obesity, but every facet of life, including health care funding, grant funding, obesity practitioners and scientists, and even obesity drugs. Why would any sensible physician/scientist consider going into the field of obesity? That is a question that was put to me numerous times during my career and which I will try to address below.

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  1. Emeritus Professor of Internal Medicine and Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Richard L. Atkinson

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Correspondence to Richard L. Atkinson.

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Atkinson, R.L. A personal look at the past and future of obesity science. Eur J Clin Nutr 74, 215–219 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0509-7

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