Recognizing and treating obesity as a disease | 60 Minutes

“It’s a brain disease.”

Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity doctor at Mass General Hospital, says that obesity has little to do with willpower and is determined by what a person’s brain thinks their body needs.

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[albertfralinger]

Are they not going to mention that she is being paid by pharma companies to promote fat loss drugs?

[iraisaacs]

Holy mother of god how did she do this with a straight face.

[misquoted]

This woman is just flat-out lying. Do the research for yourself! 60 Minutes has really gone downhill...

[talyamohammed]

Glad to see so many people in the comments are smart and this is just common sense that NUTRITION AND EXERCISE has a direct relationship to being fat.

[Tis_I_SirJames]

It's always something or someone else's fault.
This is the generation we live in.
Hopefully, the self victimization era will soon pass.

[albertwesker]

60 minutes should be ashamed for spreading misinformation. Terrible.

[jonathanlee]

Funny have traveled to 70 different countries on 6 continents, and I've never seen even 10% of the amount of obesity in any of these countries that we have here in the U.S. Did we just happen to get the vast majority of fat genes here in the U.S.? I don't doubt that genetics have some influence once a person is eating a lot and living a sedentary life, but you aren't going to become morbidly obese if you eat a moderate amount of calories and exercise regularly. This normalization of morbid obesity is yet another sign of the upside-down culture we're now in. I feel for those who struggle with it, and we all have our own struggles. But I just can't go the "this is beyond people's control" route when you don't see this other places around the world. There are some countries where obesity is practically non-existent.

[tariktyler]

This is sheer utter nonsense. Genetics do not play a major factor in your obesity as much as your lifestyle and environment.

[jarenfromvenus]

It's not this disgustingly messed up food or companies poisoning us. It was my frontal lobe the whole time! Thank you!

[joditsai]

In my case my living situation caused my weight problem. As soon as I moved out into my own place and cooked my own meals I shrank to a normal weight.

[brendanm]

She’s on the board for Ozempic. Her words are reckless and all the death that comes from her ridiculous statements are on her. A first grader could show you that your “set point” means nothing if you reduce your calorie intake.

[tariktyler]

Willpower is still essential She’s selling you “science” that’s actually based on a minimal of cases. When she’s using the story of someone who works out 5-6 days a week and eats a low calorie diet, she neglects to mention how many calories, or what this person is eating or the length of time they exercise.

[mikeb]

Eat less, lose weight. It's a math thing.

[notanomad]

Growing up in the 60's very few kids were obese because we were always on the run as there were few kids programs on TV. We also rode our bikes to school or walked everywhere as most households had only 1 car and we hardly ever got fast food or soda. It's a lifestyle choice period!

[judgykaeru]

I knew I was right that I shouldn’t blame my hidden box of Twinkies. Ok, Twinkies, here I go!

[Augfordpdoggie]

tell me why in the 1980s when i grew up, there were almost no obese people? exactly

[joecephus]

This doc is FOS, as typical of most docs, very few of them could even pass a high school quiz on nutrition. Don't lose weight to get healthy, instead get healthy to lose weight. Get healthy by stopping ALL ultra processed foods, grains, seed oils and sugar(s). Eat only REAL food, that doesn't need a label to identify what it is. Plants, animals, or combine both for healthy, sustained weight loss. Only eat real food, in its natural state. Also beware, sugar has over 70 different names, but the label only has to tell us about sucrose (table sugar).

[debra]

I do not buy what this woman is selling!

[ryanstewart]

Did it occur to the Dr that the obese woman who cannot lose weight but restricts calories and works out might be lying? The science on obesity is solved, calories in vs calories out. The equivalent would be someone saying, I drive my car 6 days a week, I haven't filled it up in a year, but it keeps on driving. No, either you filled it up, or you're not driving. Same thing with the body.

[-----...]

Simple, eat less, people just don't want to hear it. It's the truth.
Eat less food.