[samiv]

Americans will never be able to "solve" obesity at a national level in their free liberal "business first" world. After all obesity is a consequence of the biggest industry of all, the fast food industry. And a lot of profits are predicated on sick fat people from fitness to dieting to health care and pharmacy.

There are very little profits to these giants if the population was slim and healthy.

[jaccola]

The counter argument is that the free market also allows lots of money to be made on anti-obesity drugs which incentivises them to be researched.

Maybe we wouldn’t have had GLP-1 (at all or as quickly) without the huge market that is the USA.

Not saying I fully buy this argument but it is at least plausible defence of libertarianism.

[kakacik]

Who cares about those companies, whole industries can come and go as markets dance their daily dance.

The fact is, every single country on earth figured this out better than US. Which ain't so bad, but the stubbornness to even admit a failure due to some primitive patriotism or whatever and fix it is quite something. Well, you do you.

[samiv]

It's not stubbornness.

It's simply the outcome of a system that puts private profits before public good (in this case health, but you can see the same thing play out in other sectors too such as education).

Everything is working as designed.