Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

"Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much?" Lobbyists.

"Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school?" We do. It's called home economics.

"Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools?" We do. It's called gym.

"If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc?" Go tell a 6 year old they can't have cake on their birthday.

"If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc?" Lobbyists

"Why don't we limit advertising on fast and junk "food"?" Lobbyists

"Why don't we provide healthy lunches to school children instead of using them to subsidize agricultural conglomerates for low quality food?" We kinda do: http://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program

"Why don't we stop subsidizing fossil fuels so much so people would walk and ride bikes more?" How many times do I have to say this: LOBBYISTS.

"Why don't we align our medical system with prevention instead of expensive and risky cures?" That's a good question, actually.

EDIT: I like falcolas' answer: Money. Long term care is more profitable than prevention.

I hear this kind of argument all the time and I don't buy it at all. How do poor people have less time to cook than well off people? We all work the same hours.

Pasta costs next to nothing, as does rice, as do beans. Veg and dairy are a bit more but still cheap by any standards. Cigarettes and alcohol, on the other hand, are expensive. As is running a car, or going to McDonalds.

So maybe try subsidising your meals by smoking less, or drinking less, or eating out less, or walking more.

Most of the measures you suggest seem to be centred around teaching children, conditioning children and banning things from children.

However, I think we need to think more about why people overeat, and then address that problem directly. It's closely related to why they smoke, why they gamble, why they take drugs, even why they swear. It's not just a health issue. Trying to coerce people into being 'virtuous' often has the opposite effect to that intended: one of the reasons why teens smoke and swear is seemingly because they know that authority figures don't like them to, for instance. Trying to live up to the expectations of other people is tiring and stressful; people look for ways to relieve that stress -- guess what they choose.

Two suggestions, slightly contradictory, but either will work:

1.) Spices. there are loads of really interesting, amazing spices out there, but even a simple sautée of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and black pepper can make almost any vegetable taste amazing.

2.) Stop eating over-flavoured foods. Doritos etc. have a ridiculous amount of flavouring; if you eat foods like this consistently then you'll desensitise your palette to the subtler but still absolutely lovely tastes of vegetables, in the same way that staring into a spotlight makes it difficult to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of twilight. You can't re-sensitise your palette by simply cutting down on hyperflavoured food; you need to eliminate it almost completely. After a while, you'll discover that brocoli and green beans are wonderful, and Doritos are absolutely brutal on the tongue.

It's worth pointing out that "losing weight" isn't a panacea for health. Yes, it would almost certainly be a very good thing for significantly overweight and obese individuals to shed pounds, period, but the article doesn't address the fact that in and of itself this is unlikely to make them "healthy."

There are lots of people who are not overweight who have many of the same cardiovascular issues commonly associated with obesity (high cholesterol and blood pressure, insulin resistance, etc.).

If the goal is overall health and well-being, the title of this article is arguably misleading. Diet drugs might "work" when it comes to weight reduction, but it would be unrealistic to ignore the fact that without real lifestyle changes (diet, exercise), many of those who use them will likely be plagued by the same serious health issues.