70% of Americans are Obese! Or Are They?

We know that a lot of Americans could..um…afford to lose a few pounds.

Ok we’re really fat.

As if we couldn’t tell by looking around that Americans are not doing well weight-wise. Recently scientists decided to change the definition of what constitutes obesity to make us seem more fat.

A commission of scientists at Kings College, Cambridge, England, decided that Body Mass Index (BMI) is not an adequate measure of obesity. They published their findings in the distinguished Lancet journal.

When they applied the new definition to 300,000 people in their study, it took the prevalence of obesity in the population from 40% to a whopping 70%.

The rise was more pronounced in older adults.

BMI is a way to estimate body fat based on your height to weight ratio. The commission decided we need more measures including waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, or waist-to-hip ratio.

According to the new definition, a person is classified as being obese if the have either:

1. A high BMI plus at least one of the other measures

2. A NORMAL BMI plus at least 2 of the other measures

So now people with a normal BMI can be obese. That’s where they add the other 30%.

This new definition has been endorsed by at least 76 organizations including the American Heart Association and the Obesity Society.

At first this sounds awful. 70% of Americans are obese? Does it make sense? I would not say that 70% of my friends and family are obese.

Seems like this is part of a trend.

In 1970 ‘normal’ blood pressure was 160/98. In 1985 it was 140/90. Now 120/80 is considered elevated.

In 1960 the acceptable total cholesterol level was 300. Now it’s around 200.

Coincidentally there are lots of profitable drugs that can help you achieve metrics like these.

Consider the list of people who are on the Lancet commission that came up with the new definition of obesity.

They all have ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Novo Nordisk (Novloidsk) - Manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy

Eli Lilly - Manufacturer of Mounjaro and Zepbound GLP-1’s

JastaZeneca - Also known as AstraZeneca - Makes ECC5004 - an early stage GLP-1 drug for weight loss

Boehringer Ingelheim - Has a GLP-1 agonist called survodutide co-developed with Zealand Pharma.

Pfizer - Previously developed an oral GLP-1 receptor called danuglipron but had to discontinue it due to safety concerns. Instead the company recently acquired Metsera who has the injectable GLP-1 MET-097i

Amgen - Developing MariTide for obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Combines a GLP-1 receptor with a GIP receptor agonist

Regeronen - Does not currently have a GLP-1 but licenses HS-220094, a GLP-1/GIP receptor Agonist from Hansoh Pharmaceuticals.

Novo Nordisk is also one of the largest donor to the American Heart Association. Two of the platinum sponsors of the Obesity Society are Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

Starting to see how this is all interconnected? I do have to hand it to the pharmaceutical companies. They sure know how to market their products.