The Weight is Over: Changing The Conversation Around Weight Once And For All

The CEO of Weight Watchers, Sima Sistani, gives a speech discussing the need to change the conversation around weight. She argues it is not a technical or medical issue, but a societal one based on a harsh stigma surrounding obesity. She references her personal experience with the weight loss program and how she grappled with weight shame. Unfortunately, this bias against obese people was seen to increase in a Harvard study while biases for other categories decreased. The lack of training of doctors to treat obesity and the underrepresentation of patients with larger bodies in clinical trials add to the problem. Sistani emphasizes the need to change the language and conversation surrounding weight in the same way the language around mental health and heart health has shifted over the years. This shift, she argues, reduced barriers to care and improved health outcomes. Sistani shares Weight Watcher's new goal focused on ""weight health"" rather than weight loss. The company is working to make interventions more accessible and affordable, educate about weight health, and build supportive communities.