Canada is recognized worldwide. The world’s leading obesity care guidelines —Yet Canadians continue to struggle to access the very treatment plans we developed. Meanwhile, the same care model is now what the World Health Organization (WHO) is encouraging other countries to adopt.

WHO recently released First-ever guidelines The administration of antiobesity drugs enhances treatment models for chronic diseases. Canadian experts have long supported.

The WHO position reflects: Canadian framework set out in 2020 clinical guidelines: Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease that requires comprehensive and lifelong care. This includes timely diagnosis, trained health care providers, coordination between the various medical professionals involved, mental health support, and, if necessary, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery.

Despite Canada’s leadership in shaping this global change, progress domestically remains slow and uneven. more One in four adults are currently obese and Waiting time to receive specialist treatment soars to record 30 weeks In Canada. Furthermore, in high-income countries, people who face social and economic disadvantage tend to be disproportionately affected by obesity and its associated chronic diseases.

When will Canadians see this research put into practice?

Directly or indirectly, all Canadians are affected by obesity. Obesity is still largely framed as a willpower problem that can be solved with lifestyle changes alone. despite decades of evidence This indicates that it is a complex chronic disease shaped by both biology and environment. it is Associated with over 200 health problems worldwide And more than 3.7 million people die each year.

Most health systems, including Canada, still rely on disaggregated weight-centered guidelines rather than a holistic chronic disease approach. Even clinicians and clinics who wish to follow these evidence-based models are often constrained by limited resources, training, inconsistent insurance coverage, and a system that still does not put comprehensive obesity care at the forefront.

Canada is also investing. Spend millions of dollars on obesity researchhas led to the development of advanced, science-backed approaches to obesity care, but system-wide implementation remains painfully slow.

Canada’s paradox: world-class guidance, patchy access

Here’s the bright side: Canada is quiet The unexpected leader in global obesity care Guidelines. Over the past five years, Canadian clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience have helped rewrite this theory. international rule book For the treatment of obesity.

of 2020 Adult Guidelines It was a turning point in redefining obesity. Beyond using BMI as a primary compass, we’ve reorganized care around what’s important to patients: not just weight loss, but quality of life, function, and reduction of associated complications. that Patient-centered, unbiased modelalong with the Canadian guidelines process itself, since then. Ireland uses the ADAPTE framework And then Chile by international pilot. some other countries We are also integrating elements of the Canadian approach into our own guidelines.

In 2025, the model has evolved further with two major updates. a pediatric guidelines Canadian Medical Association Journal emphasized multicomponent family-centered supports that address mental health, quality of life, and cardiometabolic risks, while also considering medications and surgeries for selected adolescents through shared decision-making.

Ann Latest information on adult drug therapy They called for the long-term, individualized use of modern anti-obesity drugs, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, and urged clinicians to focus on abdominal obesity and comorbidities rather than BMI alone.

access to care

However, contradictions still remain. While the world is beginning to follow Canada’s lead on paper, most Canadians living with obesity still do not have access to the very level of care envisioned by these guidelines. Public coverage of anti-obesity drugs remains limited and inconsistent from state to state.and Private interview reach only a minority.

Training gaps further exacerbate these access issues. medical education in canada Historically Neglecting Obesity Care,departure Many clinicians are unprepared to Treat patients according to guidelines.

Surgical capabilities in obese patients are severely limited and have been reported as follows: Waiting times vary from 1.5 years to nearly 9 years.and historical analysis documenting Stark. Inequality between regions. These bottlenecks make it nearly impossible to implement the very guidelines we have invested time and money into.

So far, policy signals have been mixed. In March 2025, Alberta became the first, and remains the only, province to officially recognize obesity as a chronic disease.a move that could unlock more comprehensive coverage and care options. federal government Government is reviewing GLP-1 generic drug applications This could improve access from the road. But there is no pan-Canadian policy framework, leaving most patients relying on a patchwork system.

Quebec performs more bariatric surgeries relative to need than most provinces. However, waiting times are still considerable and public pharmaceutical coverage of anti-obesity drugs is limited.

System improvements

After all, before we can improve people’s lives, we need to improve the systems that care for them.

An important first step would be for more provinces to follow Alberta’s lead and recognize obesity as a chronic disease nationally. Becoming certified is your gateway to insurance coverage and comprehensive care.

Obesity care in Canada should be governed by a harmonized federal, provincial, and territorial framework that implements guidelines for behavioral/psychological supports, pharmacotherapy, and surgery. Make quality of life, mental health, functional capacity, and reduction of obesity-related complications core performance indicators.

Finally, as with diabetes treatment, clinically needed anti-obesity drugs should be covered by public and private plans. As international guidance adopts modern chronic care models for obesity management, lack of insurance coverage continues to impede access.

Canada’s influence on modern obesity care is commendable, with countries such as Ireland and Chile adopting Canada’s model. The WHO currently supports this same chronic treatment approach in its stance on GLP-1 medicines. However, many lives will continue to be at risk if Canada’s own guidelines are not implemented in practice within our health care system. The number of obese people will continue to rise, just as it has in the past few decades..