Kennis is Kracht Podcast 83: Obesitas: Biologie of Keuze? – In gesprek met prof. dr. Anne Roefs | Sterke Stellingen
Oct 21, 2025
prof. dr. Anne Roefs, professor of psychology and neuroscience of abnormal eating and head of the Eating Behaviour Lab, discusses why obesity is complex and not just biology or choice. She covers personalized approaches, the role of genetics and environment, the rise and risks of GLP-1 weight drugs, and combining coaching with careful medication for long-term change.
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Match Treatment To Individual Drivers
- Personalised interventions should target the specific mechanisms driving an individual's weight problem.
- Roefs wants bottom-up clustering so clinicians can match treatment (therapy, stress work, hormonal tests) to each person's drivers.
Gym Culture Becoming All Consuming
- Roefs describes young men in gym culture whose lives became dominated by training and body image.
- She calls this orthorexic behaviour where training obsession replaces social life and wellbeing.
Genes Increase Risk But Do Not Dictate Outcome
- Genetic influence on obesity is substantial but not deterministic, typically explaining ~50–70% of variance.
- Roefs stresses gene–environment interaction: genes raise susceptibility, the obesogenic environment determines expression.