Reacción a "Focusing solely on weight loss to treat obesity may be more harmful than beneficial"

The article questions the effectiveness of interventions focused on weight loss and highlights the risks inherent in this approach. Although it is not an ‘original study’ that provides new empirical data, it does integrate and synthesise a sample of high-quality literature, using it to support its conclusions. It is rigorous and evidence-based, supported by a significant sample of meta-analyses and randomised clinical trials. Its main limitation lies in its overly narrow focus on middle- and high-income countries, neglecting the impact in countries outside the Western world.

This analysis adds to a growing body of scientific literature that critically evaluates interventions based exclusively on body mass index (BMI). It is important to note that the authors do not deny the effectiveness of physical activity or a proper diet on people's health. The approach they advocate is that programmes based on promoting lifestyle habits focused on weight loss have not proven to be effective. Furthermore, it is also in line with previous research linking weight stigma to adverse effects on mental and physical health.

This article is a spur to a need that part of the scientific world has been calling for: a change in the focus of the approach to people's health. The obesocentric approach has proven not only ineffective but also a significant problem for mental and physical health. This and other increasingly common evidence calls for the promotion of a person-centred model that prioritises the overall health of the patient and not just their weight. The importance of de-medicalising lifestyle habits and avoiding reducing them to mere therapeutic tools against overweight is highlighted. There is an urgent need to develop new clinical guidelines that allow these pathologies to be addressed by considering the patient beyond their weight, understanding their social reality, their material living conditions and the environment in which they live. The fact that maintaining a focus on lifestyle has proven ineffective is reason enough for change. But this change becomes even more urgent when we understand that the populations most affected by this stigma are also those with the highest prevalence of the conditions we are trying to address, and therefore those who most need an effective approach.