America is an unfortunate pioneer in obesity, but it is not even remotely unique to America.
> It is still weird to me how US choose unironically to develop a drug for reducing addiction
Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic, is Danish. (Eli Lilly is American, though, for the tirzepatide drugs.)
I don't disagree with your fundamental premise - a huge amount of the initial conditions for obesity are environmental. But they're incredibly far ranging, incredibly intertwined with modern life in much of the developed world. Unwinding those, even with strong support from the people, would take decades.
We should still do it. But in the mean time, there's a hell of a lot of people that would die earlier than they would if they weren't obese. And a hell of a lot of them can significantly increase their lifespan with the help of these drugs.
Ok, someone needs to explain how thoroughly non-Western, undeveloped countries, more known for starvation and malnutrition than overabundance of food, are developing an obesity problem!
The diet in North Korea is characterized by a heavy focus on grains, but has changed over time to include more animal protein:
Grains, Rice, wheat, and maize are the main sources of calories in the North Korean diet. In 1961, over 70% of calories came from grains, and that number dropped to 61% five decades later.
Animal protein Before 2000, North Korea's diet was mostly vegetarian, with meat eaten only a few times a year. However, since 2005, the availability of animal protein has increased, with an emphasis on poultry, pigs, rabbits, sheep, goats, and cattle.
Other foods Popular foods in North Korea include kimchi, red pepper paste, soybean paste, soup, and rice dishes. A traditional meal might include side dishes, a main course like noodles, porridge, or grilled meat, and rice dishes.
Regional differences People in rural areas and mountain valleys eat more vegetables and herbs, while people in coastal areas have access to seafood.
Healthy options The upper class in North Korea favor healthy, balanced diets, including chicken wraps and tofu rice.
Obesity in adult men in South Korea more than doubled between 09 and 19.
Of course people don’t choose to be obese, but the culture and environment inevitably pushes you to it. A proof of that is that there are places in the world, with similar genes, that don’t have the same problem in the degree that US does.
I don’t think it is a personal failing, more a collective one - the society itself has chosen a set of environmental factors as desirable (car centric, hectic, individualistic, processed cheap food etc) and it just results in more obese people.
Loose the cars (change to walk / cycle / public transport), spend on food as much as the rest of the world do (adjusted to PPP) and suddenly you don’t need ozempic.
It is still weird to me how US choose unironically to develop a drug for reducing addiction, and not putting societal pressure to fix the environmental issues. It’s a democracy, people do choose all of that and can’t really blame it on the government.