A Compelling Person Speaks on Health and Weight
There’s a long history on the tricky business of celebrity endorsements for weight management. Years ago, the benchmark was the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, who became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers after her divorce from Prince Andrew. Proving much has changed in the popular conception of health and weight, the new benchmark is Serena Williams in the role of spokesperson for Ro, a telehealth company that delivers clinical care for weight management. Make no mistake, Williams is a compelling person to speak up on the subject of health and weight.
This is an inflection point.
Debunking Fitness Fallacies About Obesity
There are many reasons that lead us to believe this marks an inflection point in public discourse about weight, health, and obesity. For one thing, you’ll note that the word obesity is nowhere in this. The fact is that the public is not ready to wrap its head around that bit of medical terminology.
But we are ready to talk about weight and metabolic health. And maybe even to divorce it from fallacies about physical fitness and obesity. Nope, physical inactivity does not explain the problem. In Serena Williams, we have an extraordinary athlete at a peak of fitness who could not achieve her metabolic health goals simply through adherence to a diet and exercise routine. She explains:
“I trained at the highest level, ate a clean diet, pushed myself, and still, after having kids, my body just wouldn’t respond. I realized it wasn’t about willpower; it was biological. My body needed a GLP-1 and clinical support.
“I know others are struggling too, and everyone deserves access to the treatment they need. This isn’t a shortcut. It’s healthcare.”
Williams says that her body changed with childbirth. She needed medical care to return to her best health. This is something that a large portion of the population might understand.
Claiming Health
One thing we have learned in decades of working on obesity is that people do not choose to live with obesity. The biology we inherit sets the table for it and our environment serves it up. The only choice we get is what we do about it.
With the choice of Serena Williams to speak up for claiming health, we have a new pattern to follow. Not blame and shame. Not resignation. But instead, empowerment.
To be clear, you will find us listed as an advisor to Ro. They listen and make their own choices and we had nothing to do with this choice. But it makes compelling sense. We hope it prompts further change in how the public thinks about and cares about weight and health and obesity. There’s a chance it will.
Click here, here, and here for more reporting on this development.
Serena Williams, publicity photo for Ro
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August 22, 2025
August 22, 2025 at 5:41 pm, Jennie Brand-Miller said:
Ted, I agree, this is indeed an inflection point. You and Serena could CHANGE THE WORLD if you were a team of 2. One the influencer, one the scientist. My hope is that she reads this and contacts you.
August 25, 2025 at 4:36 pm, SSB said:
“Williams says that her body changed with childbirth. She needed medical care to return to her best health. This is something that a large portion of the population might understand.”
Was Serena suffering from obesity or was she facing the normal slowing of metabolism in middle age and disliked what she saw and how it impacted her Tennis performance? That a legitimate reason but I think her couching it in terms of “health” is a little misleading. I say this as a person who hit 48 and gained almost 20 pounds getting me from an average BMI into the obesity BMI in a year despite having a consistently healthy diet and exercising. Since i don’t have a personal chef who can keep me properly nourished while on a GLP, I would decline because I don’t think that would be good for my health. I have managed to go down about 10 pounds after going on Wellbutrin which is associated with small amounts of weight loss as a sideeffect. My point being is that weightloss for “health” can be smaller amounts and was a standard recommendation in diabetes prevention. My concern is that we will now disregard that as an option. Serena wants her 25 year old body back and i get it. But is that the definition of health?
August 26, 2025 at 10:05 am, Ted said:
Perhaps you are making the best decisions that you can for your own health. Likewise, I respect the decisions that Ms. Williams has made for herself. Being open about it is especially hard in a world where strangers who know nothing about her health feel free to judge her decisions. Live and let live.