“Baselessly categorizing at least 130 million Americans — and hundreds of millions in the rest of the world — as people in need of “treatment” for their “condition” serves the economic interests of, among others, the multibillion-dollar weight-loss industry and large pharmaceutical companies, which have invested a great deal of money in winning the good will of those who will determine the regulatory fate of the next generation of diet drugs.” Click here to read the article.

This study led by the CDC and the NIH is stunning because it challenges the notion that thinness equals good health. However, this observational study does not control for variables; it only notes correlations, which do not indicate causality. Nonetheless, it will force scientists, doctors, and patients to reevaluate what they label as “healthy,” and think more critically about the ways non-diseases, such as being overweight, are “medicalized” as a useful marketing strategy that underpins the growing weight loss industry, which includes the countless documentaries, videos, pills, and other supplementary tools that help people lose weight.