Best of: How weight loss drugs work and the shame of carrying excess weight
Expanded growth charts released Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now include a body mass index of 60 — up from previous charts that stopped at a BMI of 37. Patrick Sison/AP, file
According to the Trust for America's Health, a non-partisan public health organization, nearly 40 percent of Illinois adults and nearly 20 percent of Illinois children are obese. But, within the past year, the Danish company Novo Nordisk launched two new diabetes drugs that are now being used by some to lose weight.*
We spent the entire hour with two doctors and an author to discuss two diabetes drugs that are being used for weight loss. To finish our conversation, we tackled the shame associated with weight.
GUESTS:
Disha Narang, MD
Director of Obesity Medicine, Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
Nicole Florence, MD
Medical director and bariatrician, Memorial Wellness Center, Springfield
Cathy O’Neil
Author: The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation
Prepared for web by Owen Henderson
* An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the company Novo Nordisk. Return to the corrected sentence.
Help shape our coverage on The 21st by joining our texting group and answering weekly questions. To join, text “TALK” to 217-803-0730 or sign up with your phone number below: