Lisa Schaffer, living with obesity, experienced profound mental health struggles, feeling isolated and out of place. Research now shows obesity as a chronic disease rather than a mere lifestyle choice. Genetic factors and biological responses play significant roles in appetite regulation and weight loss maintenance. Schaffer and other advocates aim to reduce stigma, improve access to treatments, and ultimately save healthcare costs in Canada. Understanding obesity as a disease is critical to potentially changing societal perceptions and approaches to treatment.
"I broke my own heart," she says with a rueful smile. "I kept trying to understand why I was successful in so many other parts of my life, but this one spot just continued to evade me."
"We can now objectively say that obesity is a chronic disease, versus what we previously thought—that this was a lifestyle choice or something that we could quickly fix ourselves."
Understandably, those living with obesity often have more ghrelin, an appetite-stimulating hormone, and less GLP-1, a hormone which makes you feel full, creating frequent hunger that can feel almost impossible to satisfy.
When someone living with obesity does lose weight, it can be challenging to maintain, "Our brain has a robust biological response that can counteract weight loss."
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