Obesity was first included in the International Classification of Diseases in 1948. Hardly anyone took notice. The misconception that obesity is a lifestyle choice, that can be reversed simply by exercising willpower, has become cemented in the minds of the general public and much of the medical profession. But over the past 25 years or so, most particularly the last decade, momentum has been steadily building towards an acknowledgement that obesity is not merely a risk factor for illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, it is a disease in its own right.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(21)00145-5

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