🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada

Why is obesity still treated differently from other chronic diseases? Dr. Arya Sharma, founder of Obesity Canada, joins Dr. Roshan Abraham to explore the biology of obesity, the limits of lifestyle advice alone, and the role of compassion, evidence, and better clinical tools in improving care.

Listen to their conversation to learn why lifestyle advice alone is often not enough, how the body defends against weight loss, and why obesity should be understood as an impairment of health rather than a number on a scale. They also discuss how stigma shows up in clinical practice, why the Edmonton Obesity Staging System helps shift the conversation, and what more equitable, evidence-based obesity care could look like in the years ahead.

In this episode

• Why obesity must be understood and treated as a chronic disease
• How biology defends body weight and makes long-term weight loss difficult for many people
• Why lifestyle interventions alone are often not enough in obesity care
• How internalized blame and weight bias affect patients in the exam room
• What the Edmonton Obesity Staging System can reveal beyond BMI
• Why compassionate, individualized care matters in obesity management
• What better access to evidence-based obesity treatment could look like in Canada

Additional resources

• Canadian Obesity Education Competencies: https://utm.guru/umQ99
• Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: https://utm.guru/umRaJ
• Edmonton Obesity Staging System: https://utm.guru/umRaY
• The 5A’s of Obesity Management Framework: https://utm.guru/umRbf
• Follow Dr. Sharma on LinkedIn: https://utm.guru/umRbu

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Learning objectives

1. Apply current biomedical knowledge to explain obesity as a complex, chronic disease rooted in neurohormonal dysregulation.
2. Differentiate between the presence of adiposity (body fat) and the disease of obesity (impairment of health) using the EOSS.
3. Analyze how the "lifestyle choice" narrative perpetuates systemic bias.

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Disclosures:

This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.

While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.