Our Work

The Reality of Obesity: A new podcast from Obesity UK

Every year, World Obesity Day serves as a moment and opportunity for us, our partners, and anyone emotionally invested in obesity, to increase awareness, encourage advocacy, and share experiences around the condition of obesity.

And what better way is there to mark such a crucial annual milestone than to launch our new podcast series, The Reality of Obesity.

The five-part series, hosted by Obesity UK, will paint a lucid and well-informed picture of obesity in the UK.

Each episode will take a close look at a major element of society, be that social stigma and judgement, Coronavirus, or eating behaviour, and examine the effect it has on discourse around obesity. To do this, Obesity UK were joined by people living with the condition, who will reveal what life with obesity is truly like, as well some of the world’s most respected experts in the field, with whom we explore the evidence relating to obesity as well as some of the societal misconceptions that surround obesity.

We will publish one podcast every Thursday, starting on World Obesity Day – 4th March 2021, all of which will be available on Apple, Spotify and Goggle Podcasts.

Below is an overview of the podcasts:

Podcast 1: Experiences of people living with obesity: this podcast features 4 people living with obesity who discuss their weight management experiences and provide insights into what it is like to live with obesity. Available from 4th March 2021
Podcast 2: The impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on people living with obesity. In this podcast, we are joined by Dr Abd Tahrani of the University of Birmingham and Dr Adrian Brown of University College London who discuss the research evidence about how people living with obesity have been directly and indirectly impacted by the pandemic. Available from 11th March 2021
Podcast 3: Weight stigma and discrimination. In this podcast, we are joined by Professor Rebecca Puhl of the University of Connecticut, and Dr Stuart Flint of the University of Leeds who discuss the prevalence, impact and need to end weight stigma. Available from 18th March 2021
Podcast 4: Psychology of eating behaviour. In this podcast, we are joined by Professor Marion Hetherington and Professor Jason Halford, both of the University of Leeds who discuss the psychological mechanisms and influencers of eating behaviour. Available from 25th March 2021
Podcast 5: Weight management and obesity treatment. In this podcast, we are joined by Professor Francesco Rubino of Kings College London and Dr Sarah Appleton of the Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust who discuss the services and barriers to weight management and obesity treatment in the UK. Available from 1st April 2021

The “Reality of Obesity Podcast” was supported by Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies (JJMD). JJMD had no editorial input into the content of the podcasts.