7 myths about obesity that need to be left behind

Obesity is one of the most misunderstood health conditions in the world. Not because the science is unclear. The science is actually quite clear. The problem is that decades of cultural messaging, bad diet advice, and institutional bias have buried that science under a pile of assumptions that feel true but are not. Here are seven of the most persistent ones in my experiences building the weight loss program.

This is where most misconceptions begin, and it does the most damage. Obesity involves a complex interplay of genetics, hormonal regulation, gut microbiome function, sleep patterns, stress biology, and environmental factors. People do not choose their genetic predisposition to weight gain any more than they choose their height. Two individuals eating the same food and exercising the same amount can have dramatically different weight outcomes based on biology alone. Framing obesity as a personal choice delays medical care and replaces treatment with judgment.

If this advice worked reliably, obesity would not be a global health crisis affecting over one billion people worldwide according to WHO data from 2024. The eat less, move more instruction ignores the hormonal reality of hunger, the body's metabolic adaptations during caloric restriction, and the neurological mechanisms that drive food-seeking behaviour. It is not wrong as a direction. It is deeply insufficient as a treatment plan for a chronic medical condition.

Hunger is not a motivation problem. It is often a hormonal state driven by ghrelin, leptin, insulin, and cortisol, among other signals that operate largely below conscious control. When the body's hunger hormones are dysregulated, as they often are in obesity, telling someone to simply try harder is not clinical advice. It is a way of shifting blame. Sustained weight management requires addressing the biological mechanisms driving hunger, not repeatedly testing a person's resolve against them.

Visceral obesity, where fat accumulates around internal organs rather than under the skin, carries serious metabolic risk and may not be visible externally. This is particularly relevant for South Asian populations, who carry significant cardiovascular and metabolic risk at BMI levels that standard charts classify as normal or overweight. Body weight is an incomplete picture. Waist circumference, body composition, and metabolic markers together tell a more accurate story.

The body actively defends its highest sustained weight through mechanisms that include increased hunger signalling and reduced resting metabolic rate after weight loss. This is not a failure of discipline but a documented physiological response. Research consistently shows that most people who lose significant weight through diet alone regain a substantial portion within three to five years. This is why ongoing medical management, rather than episodic dieting, is the appropriate clinical response to obesity as a chronic condition.

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are serious, evidence-based pharmaceutical interventions that work by modulating the body's appetite and metabolic hormones. The clinical trial data behind these medications is among the strongest ever generated for obesity treatment. Patients using GLP-1 therapy under proper medical supervision are not bypassing hard work. They are finally receiving treatment that addresses the biological reality of their condition rather than fighting their own hormones without support.

The World Health Organisation, the American Medical Association, and major endocrinology bodies globally classify obesity as a chronic disease associated with over 200 comorbid conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnoea, and several cancers. It requires structured, long-term medical management, the same as any other chronic condition. The stigma attached to obesity is a barrier to that care, and it belongs in the past.

Understanding obesity accurately is the first step toward addressing it effectively. The myths listed here are not just incorrect. They are actively harmful to the people carrying the weight of them.

Saloni Paliwal (Co-founder & COO, Voy India (Formerly known as EarlyFit)