Obesity Canada - Obésité Canada

10/29/2026

To understand obesity as a chronic disease, we need to look beyond a single factor.

Dr. Lisa Ma uses a simple analogy to show why.

Think of obesity like driving a car:

🚗 The car is biology: hormones, metabolism, sleep and medical factors.
🧠 The driver is psychology: how we think, respond, regulate and make decisions.
🛣️ The road is environment: the conditions we are trying to navigate every day.

And when ADHD is part of the picture, it can change how the driver navigates that road.

This helps explain why obesity cannot be reduced to discipline, motivation or a single behaviour. The same recommendation can require very different levels of effort depending on the person, their biology and the environment around them.

In the latest episode of Scale Up Your Practice, Dr. Lisa Ma explores what ADHD can change about obesity management, and what clinicians may need to consider when a plan that looks simple on paper becomes much harder to carry out in real life.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform:
🟢 Spotify: https://utm.guru/utZPa
🟣 Apple Podcasts: https://utm.guru/utZPe
🔴 YouTube: https://utm.guru/utZPh

Save or share this one - you'll want to listen more than once!

10/29/2026

What is needed to make evidence-informed obesity care part of chronic disease care in Canada?

That was the question at the centre of our recent Longwoods Leadership Discussion on The State of Obesity Care in Canada report.

The conversation brought together perspectives from health system leadership, primary care, clinical practice, and lived experience to look at what needs to happen next: better recognition and measurement of obesity, stronger primary care pathways, improved access to treatment, more team-based care, and systems that are equipped to support healthcare professionals in delivering evidence-informed care.

The report shows that the science of obesity has moved forward, but access to care remains uneven across Canada. Geography, coverage, local resources, and weight bias can all shape whether someone receives the care they need.

If you work in healthcare, policy, health system leadership, or advocacy, this discussion is a useful look at where the barriers are and what implementation can look like in practice.

🎥 Watch the full panel recording: https://bit.ly/4za6yjQ

📄 Read The State of Obesity Care in Canada report: https://utm.guru/ut9rP

Obesity is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting Canadi...

10/28/2026

Last week, members of Obesity Canada’s Board of Directors and staff came together in Toronto for two days of conversation, planning, and time to reconnect in person.

Much of our work happens across provinces, screens, and busy calendars, so being in the same room on gave us a chance to step out of the day-to-day and focus on the bigger picture.

We spent time reflecting on where Obesity Canada is headed, the work still ahead, and how we can continue advancing better obesity care, reducing weight bias and stigma, and supporting people living with obesity across Canada.

It was also a good reminder that strong organizations are built not just on strategy, but by the passionate and dedicated people bringing it to life.

And yes, one very good dog made the group photo. 🐾

10/27/2026

Imagine being told you have a chronic disease, but not being shown where to go next.

For many Canadians living with obesity, getting support can mean searching for services, waiting for referrals, checking coverage, travelling for care, or trying to figure out the next step alone.

Obesity is a chronic disease. The path to care should be clearer than this.

The State of Obesity Care in Canada is here.

🔗 Read the report and add your voice: https://utm.guru/usZJy

10/27/2026

Imaginez qu’on vous dise que vous avez une maladie chronique, mais qu’on ne vous indique pas où aller ensuite.

Pour de nombreuses personnes vivant avec l’obésité au Canada, obtenir du soutien peut signifier rechercher des services, attendre des recommandations, vérifier la couverture, se déplacer pour recevoir des soins ou essayer de déterminer elles-mêmes la prochaine étape.

L’obésité est une maladie chronique. Le parcours de soins devrait être plus clair que cela.
L’état des soins pour l’obésité au Canada est disponible ici.

🔗 Lisez le rapport et faites entendre votre voix : https://utm.guru/usZJl

10/26/2026

If the Certified Bariatric Educator® designation has been on your professional development list, the next exam is coming up soon.

🗓️ Applications for the November 28th CBE® exam close on November 2.

The CBE® designation is for healthcare professionals who want to deepen and demonstrate their knowledge of evidence-informed obesity care, including assessment, treatment, communication, and long-term support for people living with obesity.

There is one week left to apply.

🔗 Learn more about the CBE® program, eligibility, and application process: https://utm.guru/utCSi

10/24/2026

Some needs are easier for a health system to see than others.

For Vicki-Anne, physical complications after metabolic bariatric surgery required care. But the psychological impact of recovery also needed support.

Trauma, fear, grief and emotional adjustment became part of her recovery, yet mental health support was financially out of reach.

Her story is included in The State of Obesity Care in Canada because psychological care remains difficult to access, even when it is central to comprehensive, evidence-informed obesity care.

🔗 Read the report and add your voice: https://utm.guru/usZII

10/24/2026

Certains besoins sont plus faciles à voir pour un système de santé que d’autres.

Pour Vicki-Anne, les complications physiques après la chirurgie bariatrique métabolique ont nécessité des soins. Mais l’impact psychologique du rétablissement nécessitait également un soutien.

Le traumatisme, la peur, le chagrin et l’ajustement émotionnel sont devenus partie intégrante de son rétablissement, mais le soutien en santé mentale était hors de portée financièrement.

Son histoire figure dans L’état des soins pour l’obésité au Canada, car les soins psychologiques restent difficiles d’accès, même s’ils sont essentiels à des soins pour l’obésité complets et fondés sur des données.

🔗 Lisez le rapport et faites entendre votre voix : https://utm.guru/usZIK

10/23/2026

Sometimes the recommendation makes sense, but carrying it out is much harder than it sounds.

For someone living with ADHD and obesity, something as simple as “prep your meals” can involve planning, sequencing, getting started, managing time and following through.

In this week's episode of Scale Up Your Practice, Dr. Lisa Ma talks about the “cognitive cost” of our recommendations and why clinicians may need to look beyond whether a patient understands the advice.

If the plan is not working, the answer may not be to repeat it more clearly. It may be to make the plan fit the person more realistically.

🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode:

🟢 Spotify: https://utm.guru/utZPa
🟣 Apple Podcasts: https://utm.guru/utZPe
🔴 YouTube: https://utm.guru/utZPh

10/22/2026

Psychological and behavioural support is part of evidence-informed obesity care, but the research in this area is still less coordinated than in other parts of obesity treatment.

So where should the field focus next?

At a national Canadian summit, 48 people, including researchers, healthcare professionals, administrators, and people with lived experience, came together to identify six priorities for future psychosocial obesity care research.

The priorities point toward a broader view of what better care should look like:

measuring more than weight and BMI
understanding barriers like weight stigma and access
learning what works for different people
studying different ways to deliver support
making research easier to compare and use
improving understanding of psychosocial care

Taken together, the priorities ask an important question:

Can people access care that fits their lives, supports the outcomes they value, and works over time?

🔗 Read the research: https://utm.guru/utcdk