Challenging the dogma

Abstract

According to WHO, obesity caused 3.4 million deaths and reduced life expectancy by 4% in 2010. Even in the midst of the present pandemic, these statistics should be alarming. But there is a big difference. We definitely know what causes COVID-19, but we still cannot pinpoint why obesity and overweight have become so common in the space of just 30 years. Instead, we are inordinately focussed on the underlying mechanism of positive energy balance—too much food, the wrong type of food, and too little energy expenditure. This leads us to blame the food industry for making food that is wickedly delicious, but full of excess energy from ‘naughty calories’ (fat and sugar). We accuse them of profiting at the expense of population health and we assume that healthy diets are unlikely to cause incremental weight gain.