The Obesity Fallacy: No More Games, We Need Real Solutions

By The Insight Circle, 25th August 2025

"When a cycle of a civilization is reaching its end, it is difficult to achieve anything by resisting it and by directly opposing the forces in motion" - Julius Evola, Ride the Tiger

Prologue

The writing is on the wall – obesity in Malaysia is no longer a warning sign but a full-blown crisis. With more than half the population now classified as overweight or obese (54.4%, NHMS 2023), the nation’s health speaks for itself, alongside the broken promises of unfulfilled policy commitments. Rhetoric and awareness campaigns may raise visibility, but they fall short of directing real effort where it matters most. Obesity has become, and will remain, one of the deadliest and costliest health epidemics Malaysia has ever faced. What we need now is not more words, but decisive action. We can no longer afford to be faint-hearted when the fire is burning right beneath our feet.

The “Invisible Hand”

Why have we been so blindsided in our attempts to curb the rise of obesity in the nation? It is nothing short of a tragedy when those entrusted to lead us out of a crisis are themselves caught in a grave misconception. When we speak of obesity, we must look beyond the veil of a reductionist mindset. Instead of obsessing over semantics—such as whether to “criminalize” obesity by elevating it from a risk factor to a disease—we should recognize it as a continuum of missteps within the lived experience of individuals. In this light, obesity cannot be separated from the broader spectrum of metabolic and non-communicable diseases, many of which precede and predispose individuals to being overweight or obese in the first place. We must let go of the illusion that obesity, in isolation, holds dominion over the wider realities that shape our health.

To frame obesity as an “orphaned disease”, demanding exclusive focus, robs us of the ability to respond with the inclusivity that true solutions require. Within this miasma lies the danger: we risk allowing fear of the unknown to take the wheel and steer us off course. Such fears often manifest in overlooked, invisible trends—the very forces that have led WHO to consistently urge healthcare reform grounded in the social determinants of health (SDH). WHO recognizes SDH as the ever-present yet often unseen drivers of many lifestyle-related diseases worldwide. Hospitals and clinics can treat illness, but they cannot fully prevent it. Conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease are profoundly shaped by lifestyles, self-management behaviors, psychological dispositions, and interactions with the external environment—factors beyond the reach of medicine alone. Ultimately, the challenge lies in how we empower individuals through parameters that genuinely resonate with their lived realities—and SDH provides one clear path forward.

The Evidence is Out There

The evidence for this is abundant, widespread, and uncomfortably close to home. We must take seriously the legacy of insights unearthed through years of research and reflection, for what is glaringly obvious now is staring us squarely in the face. A case in point for Malaysia was highlighted in a seminal 2014 paper (Swarna Nantha, 2014), which argued that new dimensions could be harnessed to address the pressing morbidities of diabetes and obesity in the Malaysian population. The paper outlined strategies to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases—namely diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cardiovascular disease—while exposing a critical weakness in policy: the failure to address something as fundamental as the Malaysian food environment.

Much of this warning went unheeded, and the critique was not without merit. The paper noted that the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey was abruptly discontinued in 2003, leaving a glaring data vacuum. Though briefly revived in 2014, it has since slipped once more into hibernation, creating persistent gaps in national nutrition surveillance. Nearly a decade on, the consequences of this neglect are undeniable: Malaysia now faces not only a crippling rise in obesity rates but also an accelerating burden of non-communicable diseases. Meanwhile, the circulation of “hyperpalatable”, highly processed foods continues unabated, fueling the very trends we can no longer afford to ignore—a concern echoed in later research by Swarna Nantha and colleagues (2016, 2020). Yet policy responses remain largely reactionary. The imposition of sugar or “sin” taxes, while politically expedient, misses the deeper issue. These measures often raise costs that are ultimately borne by society, perpetuating a vicious cycle rather than breaking it.

Readily Available Strategies

Although these may appear to be cherry-picked inferences from a single work, they resonate with a broader body of research by likeminded thinkers whose insights often converge—creating “eureka moments” when considered together. In many ways, we are now living the very future that was once forewarned. From this, one truth emerges: targeting obesity is not in itself a fallacy, but it becomes one when addressed superficially—when obesity is elevated as the singular strand demanding urgent attention, detached from the wider trends unfolding plainly before us. At that point, our well-intentioned efforts to reverse disease drift further from reality rather than closer to it.

If we truly wish to bring about the change we aspire to see, a few immediate steps are necessary:

1.         Reframe the way we discuss obesity—shift from a puritanical, illness-centered narrative to a holistic, health-centered lens. This ontological shift reshapes dialogue in both academia and public circles, positioning obesity not as the “center of the universe” but as one cog within the larger machinery of non-communicable diseases.

2.       Revive the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS 3.0)—now, more than ever, comprehensive nationwide data is essential to guide targeted interventions. Reliable insights into food consumption trends are critical for shaping healthier dietary habits and regulating access to “hyperpalatable” foods. While the NHMS offers a broad picture of how unhealthy Malaysians are becoming, MANS reveals why—by uncovering the underlying food and nutrient patterns driving these outcomes.

3.       Realistically Adopt a Social Determinants of Health (SDH) approach—whether in research or policy, our strategies must move beyond narrow, authority-driven solutions. Real change requires interventions that are all-encompassing—addressing the broader social, economic, and environmental forces that shape health behaviors and outcomes. SDH should not remain an abstract concept, confined to textbooks or reduced to fodder for academic discourse. They must be translated into practice, embedded in policy, and lived out in action. In short, we must not only speak of SDH—we must, both metaphorically and literally, walk the talk.

Epilogue

Fair access to health and precision medicine amount to little more than purposeless maneuvers in the dark if they are not grounded in—and guided by—the very trends unfolding in plain sight within our society. Even more troubling is the hesitation to implement well-established solutions for fear of challenging entrenched interests or going against the grain. Health is our shared common ground; if we fail to take it seriously, we sow the consequences we will inevitably reap—whether in the form of obesity or any other medical condition.