[How do we make society less obesogenic? Lessons from the political and complexity sciences].

Abstract

The adoption of prevention policies that address our obesogenic society remains deficient. We investigated how to overcome policy inertia, using qualitative literature review and theories and concepts from the political and complexity sciences. Our findings indicate that multiple self-reinforcing processes buttress the assumption that obesity is an individual problem, strengthening the biomedical and commercial weight-loss sectors' claim to ownership over solutions. 'Focusing events' can draw political attention to societal cause and consequences of obesity. The more attention such events generate and the clearer the failure of current policies, such as the failure to achieve goals set out in the Dutch 2018 Prevention Agreement, the more pressure builds for alternative policies. Collaboration with groups that emphasize societal aspects of obesity, such as anti-weight stigma activists, can help reframe obesity as a societal problem. Addressing our obesogenic society requires cooperation with policy organizations that influence obesogenic environments, like urban planning.