The Fat Doctor Podcast How Big Pharma Made Up a Disease
Jan 28, 2026
A dive into how BMI cutoffs were invented and the shaky history behind labeling fatness a disease. Investigation of pharmaceutical funding and PR that pushed policy changes at the WHO. A challenge to whether adiposity meets medical definitions of disease and who financially benefits from medicalizing weight.
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No Valid Cutoffs For Healthy Weight
- Asher Larmie argues there is no established healthy weight or clear BMI cutoffs validated by evidence.
- The 1995 WHO report explicitly stated no clear fat-mass or BMI cutoff points existed.
Task Force Founded To Shift WHO Policy
- Professor Philip James created the International Obesity Task Force to push WHO policy change via PR work.
- He later admitted to receiving large industry cheques to fund that advocacy.
WHO Report Declared An Epidemic
- The 1998 WHO report labels obesity a "global epidemic" and a disease despite earlier uncertainty.
- The report acknowledged the International Obesity Task Force's financial and technical contribution.