How do you propose solving the problem of obesity?

The population is getting more and more obese so what we are doing now is not working says, Philip Hagen, MD. He talks about the need to get people engaged in their own health every day.

Transcript

00:00

The medical model, seeing a patient in a room, even in a good setting, is not the one

00:07

that's going to work for obesity, for weight loss. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:16

We think we've got this great scientific system, and we've watched our population get more and more and more and more obese. And we've spent thousands of dollars on diet programs

00:25

and going into the doctor. And we're still getting more and more obese. Clearly, it should have whacked us in the head about 30 years ago.

00:34

But what we're doing is not working. The medical model, seeing a patient in a room,

00:43

even in a good setting, is not the one that's going to work for obesity, for weight loss. We have to figure out a new approach that's

00:51

going to get people to engage in their own health every day. And that's the only solution to obesity or lack of exercise,

01:00

or frankly, dealing with a frantic society, time-driven, time-pressured society,

01:07

is to get people to say, OK, I am in charge of these things. Most of the decisions that people

01:15

make about their health, most of the important decisions that people make about their health, aren't made in the doctor's office. So the Grand Poobah is not there giving instruction

01:25

to the person when they're deciding what to choose for dinner. [AUDIO LOGO]