In a study published in Lancet on November 14, 2024, conducted by the GBD 2021 Forecasting Collaborators using 132 data sources, nearly half of adolescents and three-quarters of adults in the U.S. were classified as being clinically overweight or obese.
The authors forecast that by 2050, 1 in 4 children and 1 in 3 adolescents will be obese.
While clinical research has brought us new pharmacologic agents such as the GLP-1 receptor and GIP dual agonists with both central and peripheral sites of action, none of these drugs are either universally effective or without significant side effects. Further most need to be injected.
The U.S. already has one of the highest rates of obesity and the trend seems to be accelerating. The economic impact on the economy and its exacerbation of racial inequalities is burdensome and unacceptable. We can only hope that as research continues oral medications and solutions that we anticipate will be permanent such as Endoscopic Visceral Lipectomy will brighten the horizon.
We welcome the new Administration’s move to Make America Healthy again. Let’s take a step backwards into less processed foods, more exercise, and un-supersized portions. The most effective drug or operation will fail without suitable patient motivation and participation. And the failure of one generation has a cascading effect on the next with the offspring of obese mothers and fathers being born with more visceral fat and destined to earlier obesity and type 2 diabetes.
