A Turning Point: WMA Recognizes Obesity as a Chronic Disease

The World Medical Association (WMA) has just taken a significant step forward in how the world’s medical community understands and responds to obesity. Its newly adopted Statement on Obesity, approved this week at the WMA General Assembly in Porto, reframes obesity not as a social or lifestyle problem, but as a complex, chronic disease that requires evidence-based medical care.

From Social to Medical

For decades, global statements on obesity have focused mainly on prevention – urging governments to tax, regulate, and educate their populations. While these steps matter, they left a gap in acknowledging the clinical realities of people living with obesity. The new WMA statement fills that gap. It clearly describes obesity as “a widespread, long-term chronic disease” with biological, psychological, developmental, and social roots – and calls for treatment to be integrated into national health systems as part of universal health coverage.

That’s progress. The WMA now explicitly recognizes the need for physicians and other health professionals to provide comprehensive, compassionate care using evidence-based tools — from behavioral therapy to pharmacotherapy and metabolic surgery. Earlier statements stopped short of naming that responsibility.

The Link to WHO and NCDs

This shift is especially important given WMA’s close relationship with the World Health Organization. For years, WHO has struggled to position obesity alongside other major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The WMA’s clear language could help move the global conversation – and perhaps WHO’s own frameworks – toward full recognition that obesity is not simply a risk factor, but an NCD itself.

It’s a welcome and long-overdue sign of progress. The world’s medical leaders now affirm what science has shown for years – that obesity deserves care, not blame.

Click here for the new WMA statement and here for further perspective.

Global Image from the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite, image by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / Wikimedia Commons

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October 15, 2025