Bill Gates reacts to PM Modi's 'yoga-type things people should adopt' to fight obesity, supports weight loss drugs

Bill Gates was asked to share 'one problem money cannot fix', when he reacted to PM Modi's take on combating obesity with yoga, among other 'behaviour changes'.

Bill Gates believes that obesity is a problem that money can't fix, highlighting the challenges of achieving ‘behaviour change’. While appearing on Raj Shamani's March 29 podcast, he shared his take on the potential benefits of yoga and other lifestyle changes. The businessman and philanthropist also emphasised the promise of GLP-1 drugs, a class of medications that mimic a natural hormone in the body to regulate blood sugar and appetite; these include Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound.

Bill Gates on tackling obesity

When asked about his many India visits, and 'What's one problem he feels that money cannot fix?' Bill Gates said, “You know there's a lot of talk about obesity, and you know, when I saw the Prime Minister (PM Narendra Modi), he was talking about various yoga-type things that people should adopt. But it's been hard. You know, not many countries have gotten the behaviour change.”

What does Bill Gates think about weight loss drugs?

Bill suggested that the most effective approach to addressing obesity might be a combination of behaviour change and new tools, like GLP-1 drugs. However, he also acknowledges that achieving behaviour change is difficult and that more needs to be done to support individuals in making sustainable lifestyle changes.

He said, “Maybe India can pioneer some approaches there, but you know, frankly, and I'll sound like a technologist, the most promising thing is actually, a drug, class of drugs called these GLP 1 drugs, that are going to go off patent and become cheap. I always like… I'm a little over-focused on the scientific solution. So, maybe a combination of that behaviour change and the new tools. But behaviour change is hard; we haven't succeeded in that as much as we'd like to.”

What PM Modi said about obesity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 7 stressed the need to fight obesity, calling it the root cause of many diseases, and cited a report by The Lancet which claimed that nearly 440 million people in India may be obese by 2050. Speaking at a rally in Silvassa, the prime minister urged people to fight the chronic health condition characterised by excessive body fat by reducing edible oil consumption by 10 percent and doing regular physical exercises.

“Diseases linked to our lifestyle are posing a huge risk to our health today. Obesity is one of them because it is the root cause of many diseases. According to a recent report, nearly 44 crore (440) people in India may be obese by 2050. This figure is huge and it is equally scary,” PM Modi said.

What is obesity?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. The commonly used metric to classify obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI), where a BMI of 25 or above is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or above is classified as obese. In India, a person is considered overweight if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 23.0 and 24.9 kg/m², and obese if their BMI is 25 kg/m² or higher. Morbid obesity occurs when a person’s BMI is 35 or more.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.