This Morning has been praised for a frank and informative segment on weight struggles after ITV presenter Alison Hammond tearfully opened up about her own battle last week on the programme.
This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby sat down with ITV physician Zoe Williams and obesity campaigner Sarah Le Brocq to discuss the condition and why it should be recognised as a disease.
Sarah noted that genetics is a “huge part” of obesity and also stressed that it is not a choice, advocating for those living with the condition to have greater access to support and services.
She said: “Both my parents have struggled with their weight, but I think it’s this societal pressure to look a certain weight. I tried diet after diet and when you lose weight and it goes back on again, you start to get back to the highest weight you’ve ever been.”
Holly noted that she had not previously heard of ‘set point theory’, which sees the body try to maintain a preset weight, which is hardwired into our DNA, resulting in people having “to fight against biology” to lose weight.
Sarah continued: “I want to change the narrative around obesity, so people know it’s a complex chronic disease. It’s not someone’s choice and we need to support people and stop chastising them.”
ITV’s Dr Zoe went on to bring the conversation to fellow This Morning presenter Alison Hammond, who was moved to tears by a caller who shared her worries for her teenage daughter with an eating disorder.
Speaking during the segment, Alison said: “Can I just say something? Obviously I've had - I'm getting upset - I've had obesity my whole life. And your regulation system is out of whack. So obviously, you can't control wanting to eat all the time.”
Fighting tears as co-host Dermot O’Leary comforted her, she said: “I think a lot of people don't realise that obesity is a disease. You can't help wanting to eat all the time.”
Referring to the emotional moment on the show, Dr Zoe said: “We saw our own Alison on the show on Friday explaining her experience and she was right: obesity is a disease and it requires the same care and support that any other chronic disease has.
“Weight discrimination goes beyond society’s views and how we treat people. It means there’s been less money invested and obesity hasn’t been prioritised.”
This Morning viewers took to Twitter to discuss the informative segment, with many noting that the conversation around weight needs to shift.
One fan wrote: “Excellent discussion on This Morning about obesity. It's about time it's treated differently. Not everyone suffering is sitting in front of the TV eating buckets of fried chicken.”
Another social media user wrote: “I really like this Dr, she really breaks things down for you to understand.”
