As many of us know, keeping weight in check can be hard. And national numbers certainly reflect this. Rates of overweight and obesity in the U.S. have steadily climbed since the early 1980s. The impact this has had on health and well-being is very significant. Weight gain and obesity increase the risk of 13 cancers, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, mobility problems and many other serious conditions. So, the recent rise of GLP-1 medications for weight loss has become a promising bright spot.

The internet is full of information about health topics and alleged and actual risks. Sensationalist videos and social media posts in particular can reach millions of people in almost no time at all. This poses a particular challenge for authorities and the media seeking to provide reliable information on such topics based on scientific facts. “Even the best-produced risk information is ultimately worthless if no one finds and understands it,” explains communication scientist Eva Baumann in the BfR science podcast “Risiko”. Baumann is a professor at the University of Music, Drama and Media in Hanover, where she heads the Hanover Centre for Health Communication, and is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). To truly reach people, Baumann recommends thinking backwards: “We must ask ourselves: where do we need to meet people where they are in terms of communication?”