When I wrote my first book, Fat or Fiction, back in 1999, my mission was clear: to shine a light on the myths, misconceptions, and clever marketing that shaped the way we thought about diet, nutrition, and weight loss.
I truly believed that by lifting the veil on misinformation, the next generation would be better equipped to navigate their health with clarity and confidence. Yet, 26 years on, the situation globally is not better - it is worse.
The Cycles We Cannot Seem to Break
History shows us that public health messaging can work. Cigarettes were once considered glamorous, even aspirational, until we worked tirelessly to make them not only dangerous, but uncool. Yet here we are again, with vaping reeling vulnerable teenagers back into a harmful cycle.
We also managed to challenge the cultural obsession with being rail thin. Victoria’s Secret was forced to abandon its parade of ultra-thin models, replaced by a celebration of curves, strength, and body diversity. But once again, the pendulum has swung. This time it is not fashion but pharmaceuticals leading the charge - with GLP-1 drugs selling thinness as the ultimate prize, often at the expense of true health.
The Dangerous Illusion of the Scale
Too many people have been conditioned to believe that the number on the scale matters more than anything else. I hear it time and again: they do not care if their health crumbles, as long as the scales go down. And sadly, this thinking is now trickling down to teenagers, who are increasingly presenting with body dysmorphia - while doctors, sometimes carelessly, prescribe weight loss drugs as a first line of defence.
But the science is clear: up to 40% of the so-called "weight loss" on these drugs is actually muscle and bone. Three out of four people stop using them within a year, due to side effects or cost, and all of the weight regained comes back as body fat - not bone, not muscle. For anyone over 40, the chance of restoring that lost muscle and bone is highly unlikely. For teens, it means they may never reach their peak bone mass, setting them up for a lifetime of increased risk of osteoporosis and metabolic dysfunction.
And even for those who stay on the drugs, their effectiveness diminishes after two years. Then what?
When Role Models Fail Us
The latest blow came when Serena Williams - an icon for women and girls everywhere - posed with a needle at her skin, touting her 31-pound weight loss. It is hard not to wonder: is this really the message we want our daughters to receive? Especially when her husband happens to be an investor in the company.
Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk runs slick TV ads with slogans like "I've tried everything.com", portraying people sweating in gyms and picking at salads with no results, before finding salvation in an injection. The emotional manipulation is breathtaking. Vulnerable people are being sold a dream that is, at best, temporary - and at worst, deeply damaging.
What We Should Be Talking About
The real problem is that we have told people, again and again, that weight is the enemy. But weight is only a symptom. The true issue is metabolic dysfunction - a complex web of hormonal, nutritional, and lifestyle factors that cannot be solved with a weekly injection.
When people understand this, it is a game changer. They rediscover what their bodies are capable of. They gain confidence. They make changes that stick. They become empowered to resist the seductive pull of drug companies and the manipulative creativity of marketing agencies, paid millions to tell them they are broken and only a product can fix them.
A Call to Reclaim Health
This is about the health of the next generation. It is about ensuring our daughters and sons are not sold down a path that strips them of their strength, their vitality, and their hope for a healthy future.
We have fought these battles before - against cigarettes, against impossible beauty standards. We can fight this one too. But it starts with education. With courage. And with reminding people that their bodies are not broken. They are extraordinary.
And the solution has always been within them - not in a syringe.
