Novo Nordisk, the maker of weight management drugs Wegovy and Saxenda, has previously outlined a “mission to defeat obesity” by digging into its underlying biological causes, seeking to reduce stigma and, in tandem with both of those efforts, encouraging doctors and patients to view it as a disease to be treated, rather than something that can be reversed through lifestyle changes alone.
In line with that mission, the Danish pharma this week debuted a new video on social media that emphasizes genetics as a major factor in the development of obesity.
The animated video focuses on a woman at the center of a (literal) family tree. In a voiceover, she discusses how obesity was present within her mother’s family, but nowhere on her father’s side, leading to a split between her and her siblings, among whom two are overweight and one is not.
“It’s funny how we can look so different in one family,” she says, suggesting that the genes that pass down a likelihood of obesity are similar to those that pass down other physical characteristics—like curly hair, which shows up seemingly randomly among her family members.
The video ends with an onscreen message reading: “Did you know that the heritability of obesity is between 40% to 70%?” That statistic is repeated in Novo’s caption alongside the post, which also directs viewers to visit the company’s obesity-focused webpage for more information about “the multiple factors impacting people living with obesity. According to the site, in addition to genetics, they include “physiology, environment, job and education, and what is going on in the brain.”
Novo’s previous educational and awareness-raising efforts around obesity have focused similarly on debunking the idea of obesity as merely the result of personal habits and destigmatizing the disease. And while most of those initiatives have featured real patients—including celebrity spokesperson Queen Latifah—this isn’t the Big Pharma’s first foray into animated explainers.
Last summer, Novo shared another pair of videos on social media, both done up in a colorful artistic style similar to that of this week’s post. Also like the most recent clip, those videos each focused on a first-person story told in voiceover that wove in various factors that can contribute to obesity.
One of the videos repeats the statistics about the genetic probability of developing obesity, with a man describing how just eating healthy and staying active didn’t prevent the condition from affecting his whole family. He adds, “All these years, I wish I’d known I was fighting against my genes,” and talks about his efforts to “leave the shame behind.”
Meanwhile, the other post details a woman’s experience gaining weight due to the psychological stress of her sister’s death. She cites a statistic linking depression to a 58% increase in the risk of weight gain and obesity and notes that seeking support from a therapist has helped her get the weight gain under control.
Both videos end with an onscreen message from Novo: “Obesity may seem straightforward but often isn’t. Many different factors—including genetics—can impact a person’s weight.”