People don’t become obese overnight.

Given the negative impact obesity has on so many aspects of our lives - for the individuals affected, their families, all the way up to health and social care systems that pay for the care and the lost productivity resulting from obesity – it is not something we can ignore.

Bringing to market an obesity drug, however, such as the recently approved Novo Nordisk drug, will not offer a miracle cure despite what the marketers say; it may risk leading to worse health effects as set out below.

“To one degree or another,” writes Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, “the question of what to have for dinner assails every omnivore, and always has. When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety ... .” Pollan contrasts the omnivore with a species like the koala, which does not have to – indeed, cannot – choose between different possible food sources. Humans are at the opposite end of the food choice spectrum.