“Our goal is to generate evidence that supports better and more equitable care for people living with obesity worldwide,” said the Commission Chair, Professor Paul Franks.
Overweight and obesity is a growing global health challenge, affecting an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide – a number expected to rise in the coming decades. It is linked to more than 250 related conditions, yet its impact varies widely between individuals and populations.
Obesity is increasingly understood not as a single condition but as a complex disorder influenced by genetic, environmental, behavioural and social factors. This recognition has exposed the limitations of one-size-fits-all approaches and highlighted the urgent need for more precise, data-driven strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
The Nature Medicine Commission aims to address one of the most pressing gaps in obesity management: the lack of robust, globally representative data to guide clinical decisions.
Nic Timpson, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at the Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences (PHS) and Commission co-chair, explained: “For too long we have been reliant on the use of blunt measurement tools and often inappropriate samples to assess the extent of the implications of living with obesity and likely impact of interventions. Now effective management approaches are available to tackle obesity, and relevant data is more abundant than ever, we have a superb chance to gather data from an international community to really understand the most effective way to provide effective and equitable care."
Professor Franks added: “There is a clear need to move beyond consensus-based approaches and towards data-driven solutions that can better support decisions for individual patients wherever they may be. The work will support the development of clinical decision-support tools that can help healthcare providers tailor prevention and treatment strategies.”
Closing the global gap
The Commission will function not only as an expert panel but also as a large-scale global data analysis consortium. Modern data-driven approaches offer the opportunity to enhance biological understanding, risk assessment, diagnoses and treatment selection.
A major focus will be addressing global inequities in data availability. Much of the burden of obesity-related disease lies outside high-income countries, yet the data needed to support evidence-based care in those settings are often limited.
This imbalance will be addressed by incorporating data from diverse populations worldwide, improving representation across regions, genders, and backgrounds, and ensuring that resulting tools are applicable across a wide range of healthcare settings.
Long-term impact
The international initiative aims to transform obesity management by developing data-driven tools to support clinical decision-making worldwide
Professor Franks said: “Success will mean creating tools and evidence that objectively improve how obesity is managed across different populations, settings, and scenarios. This is a long-term effort with the potential for transformative global impact.”
The launch at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) in Istanbul, marking the start of a major global effort to improve how obesity is managed, coincides with publication of the Commission announcement in Nature Medicine. The initiative is expected to run over several years, concluding in 2031.
Beyond its core deliverables, the Commission aims to strengthen global research collaboration, build capacity in data analysis and clinical research, and support the translation of evidence into policy and practice.
Dr Sara Suliman, Commission Co-Chair, added: “Obesity management has improved markedly in recent years with improved assessment tools, medications and surgical procedures; as well as improved education of healthcare professionals. Yet, obesity remains one of very few chronic diseases that do not have data-driven prediction models, treatment targets or predictors of response to available therapies. This Commission provides a unique opportunity to address these and other key questions in obesity management, especially those affecting people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and healthcare systems.”
Organisation
The Commission will be organised into specialised working groups focusing on key areas such as lifestyle interventions, pharmacological treatments, and surgical approaches. These groups will identify clinically relevant research questions and develop practical tools for real-world care.
The Commission’s secretariat is jointly based at Lund University and Queen Mary University of London, supporting coordination across its international network of contributors.
Key focus areas
- Mapping the global landscape of data for predicting obesity risk and treatment response
- Identifying key gaps, barriers, and opportunities in obesity management
- Developing a comprehensive clinical decision support system (CDSS) based on global cohort data
- Creating adaptable frameworks and toolkits for diverse healthcare settings
A central ambition is to develop open and accessible decision-support systems that can be used by healthcare professionals worldwide.