What effect does formally recognizing obesity in legislation have? Hasn't the medical profession known about it for a long time and been steering medical outcomes with it in mind?

The OUP link is AI slop. Here's a better link; the law in question was actually passed over a year ago.

https://www.safefoodadvocacy.eu/amici-obesi-groundbreaking-o...

Do they still sell cigarettes? Yes.

Difficult to take them seriously.

> On 7 May 2025, in Rome, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved a new law to help people with obesity. This law is the first of its kind in the world. It shows that obesity is a medical condition that needs proper care and support, and is not just a result of poor choices.

So I totally agree that obesity is better classified as having serious medical and societal consequenes, and something that needs proper care and support rather than shaming, and hope that this law represents a step towards that. The only problem I have with "medical condition" as a blanket description is that this appears to let the food industry off the hook way too easily, really.

Having said that I find the choice of "show" confusing: a law doesn't prove anything beyond some ruling class reached some form of consensus on any given topic at some point in time, does it?