Drugs that melt away pounds still present more questions than answers, but Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro could be key tools in reducing the obesity epidemic
The ConversationJun 03, 2023
The Facts
The Telegraph reported over the weekend that Britain's National Health Service (NHS) Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator has misled overweight people to eat hundreds of excess calories per day since 2018 — a scale that could have put on roughly 35 pounds (15 kg/2.5 stone) a year on some people.
The BMI is a measure that uses both height and weight to find out if someone's weight is healthy; it divides an adult's weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. The healthy weight ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.
The Spin
Right narrative
This is yet more blatant evidence of public sector incompetence, but the people who keep urging London to expand the nanny state and further meddle in our lives keep pressing on. While obesity is undeniably a problem, Britons should take responsibility for their own actions instead of relying on government bureaucrats.
Left narrative
Amid fears of facing backlash for interfering in people's diet choices, the UK government over the past decades has failed to tackle the obesity crisis in the country as they favored individual responsibility rather than systemic interventions. Given that this is clearly not working, politicians must be brave and follow the successful actions taken to curb smoking. This is a matter of calibrating the approach.
