Last week, ECPO had the honour of attending the International Congress on Obesity (ICO) 2026 in Mexico City, organised by the World Obesity Federation (WOF).
We sincerely thank the World Obesity Federation for inviting ECPO and our President, Diana Castillo, to participate in this important global event.
We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to EASO for generously sharing part of their exhibition stand, giving us the opportunity to connect with people from around the world and showcase ECPO’s work.
It was a pleasure to present our books, bookmarks, and People First campaign materials, which attracted tremendous interest and were quickly requested by attendees. This enthusiastic response sends a powerful message: there is a growing commitment to fostering a culture that truly puts people first, before disease and beyond stigma.
One of the highlights of the week was participating in the Obesity Lived Experience Global Summit 2026. It was an incredibly valuable experience that allowed us to engage with people from across the globe and gain a deeper understanding of the diverse realities faced by people living with obesity.
We learned about healthcare systems adopting innovative approaches to obesity care, while also hearing from countries where obesity is still not recognised as a chronic disease. Although needs, priorities, and healthcare systems differ widely, one challenge was universal: stigma.
Clinical, social, and political stigma continue to deny people their rights, delay diagnosis, limit access to care, and hinder the development of effective strategies to comprehensively address obesity.
However, this was much more than a scientific congress.
It was a place where the voices of people living with obesity were genuinely heard, valued, and recognised as an essential part of driving meaningful change.
Throughout the week, we discussed health, patient rights, health policy, research, and communication. We shared experiences, built new collaborations, and learned from one another, united by a common goal: improving the lives of people living with obesity.
Science continues to transform our understanding of obesity. Today, we know that obesity is a chronic, complex, and multifactorial disease.
But science alone is not enough.
This knowledge must be translated into action through stronger prevention strategies, personalised evidence-based treatments, and long-term obesity management supported by continuous, integrated, multidisciplinary care that responds to each person’s individual needs throughout their life.
Equally important is ensuring that people with lived experience are listened to, respected, and meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them. Those who live with obesity every day bring perspectives and insights that no textbook can provide.
Only by working together—people living with obesity, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, and patient organisations—can we build more compassionate healthcare systems, truly personalised care pathways, and policies that place people, not their weight, at the centre.
We return home inspired by new ideas, strengthened by new collaborations, and even more determined to continue our work.
Every person living with obesity deserves respect. They deserve prevention. They deserve timely access to appropriate care. They deserve long-term support. They deserve to be heard. Above all, they deserve to live free from stigma and discrimination.
ECPO will continue to bring the voices of people living with obesity to institutional decision-making tables, international conferences, and every forum where policies that affect our lives are shaped.
Because one principle must guide every decision: “Nothing about us, without us.”
Our lived experience is not a detail.
It is an essential part of the solution.