Flourishing as a Pathway to Well-Being in Obesity Care

Obesity has increased in prevalence worldwide and is now recognized by the World Health Organization as a global epidemic. Conventional treatments remain predominantly weight-loss-oriented, and although weight is a relevant and necessary clinical indicator, relying on it alone fails to capture the full complexity of health and well-being for people living with obesity. This review proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework grounded in flourishing, advocating for a more holistic and person-centered approach to obesity care. Flourishing encompasses six key domains: life satisfaction and happiness, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability. Integrating these domains alongside traditional clinical outcomes allows obesity care to move beyond a narrow weight focus, incorporating strategies that also foster resilience, social connectedness, and purpose. This approach aligns with personalized medicine, supporting interdisciplinary and individualized care. Considering persistent weight stigma and discrimination, embracing a whole-person perspective is not optional but rather essential. By placing the individual, not only the disease or the body, at the center of care, a flourishing perspective complements biomedical indicators and offers a more compassionate and sustainable model of obesity management. However, progress will depend on the openness of healthcare, education, research, and policy stakeholders to adopt new approaches that align care with what truly constitutes well-being for people living with obesity.