Professor of Nutrition and Health, Jaap Seidell, has devoted a large part of his professional life to studying the causes and consequences of overweight and obesity. Initially, obesity was viewed as an individual medical problem, caused by a positive energy balance and treatable with simple lifestyle advice.
Now that half of the population is overweight (with one billion people suffering from obesity), and its increase is particularly evident in low- and middle-income populations, it is becoming increasingly clear that the underlying causes are related to, among other things, a food system driven by economic and political interests. Obesity is a symptom of a global system that promotes overconsumption and resource depletion, at the expense of the health of all animals (including humans) and plants.
The economic and humanitarian consequences of this for society will be immense. A transition to a healthier food system requires a new vision in science, policy, business, and consumer behavior. Seidell elaborates on this in his valedictory speech.