MAPPS II at ICO 2026: from breakfast conversation to regional evidence, advocates and experts set the agenda for obesity policy in Latin America
Two sessions at the International Congress on Obesity (ICO) in Mexico City showed MAPPS II in action - first through an exclusive look at preliminary findings from Latin America, then through frank conversation with lived experience advocates.
The MAPPS II programme - World Obesity's global initiative on Management and Advocacy for Providers, Patients and Systems - took centre stage on several occasions during ICO 2026 in Mexico City.
A breakfast meeting brought together lived experience advocates from around the world to discuss what meaningful research involvement should look like, while a dedicated LATAM session shared the first preliminary findings from the region and opened them up to debate with policymakers, clinicians and advocates. Together, the two sessions capture what MAPPS II is trying to do: build research that is shaped by the people it's about, from the very start.
MAPPS II LATAM session: preliminary findings, tested in the room
MAPPS II LATAM session: preliminary findings, tested in the room
Held on 15 July and co-chaired by Dr Bruno Halpern (World Obesity President) and Agustina Luque (Healthy Americas' Coalition Executive Coordinator), the LATAM session drew 46 attendees for the first look at exclusive, preliminary, unpublished MAPPS II findings from across Latin America - and a candid discussion of what they mean in practice.
Opening the session, Agustina Luque noted that while many Latin American countries have made significant policy progress, implementation remains the major sticking point across the region.
Emerging findings
Preliminary findings pointed to several consistent regional barriers:
Cost of both treatment and healthy living
Treatment is overwhelmingly paid out of pocket (with the exception of Costa Rica and Ecuador), and in many places, less healthy food remains cheaper than healthier alternatives.
Obesogenic environments
Limited opportunities for physical activity and exercise, domestic settings that are unsafe or unsupportive of healthy living, time pressure from work and daily life, and misinformation on social media around diets and exercise.
Health workforce gaps
A shortage of trained healthcare professionals across all countries and stages of care, alongside limited consultation times and very little availability of multidisciplinary teams outside tertiary care
Cultural norms and stigma
Obesity is still widely attributed to a lack of willpower, alongside an unwillingness among some healthcare providers to treat it and a broader lack of public understanding.
Policy and financing
The absence of sustained government policy and funding, both for public prevention campaigns and for making obesity medications and structured treatment programmes actually available through public health systems.
To complement the MAPPS II research, six "deep dive" countries are undertaking more intensive work through multidisciplinary roundtables involving government, with World Obesity's role centred on convening and advocating globally while supporting national actors to advocate in their own countries - including through published findings and forthcoming Atlas country cards.
Personal stories, shared themes
Panel one, chaired by Dr Bruno Halpern, brought together Teodoro Marín Bojorque (Ecuador), Dr Ada Cuevas (Chile) and José Arturo Vega Boza (Costa Rica) to discuss the factors shaping obesity treatment and management across the region.
Teodoro shared his own story of living with obesity and undergoing bariatric surgery sixteen years ago, including a serious post-surgical complication and the ongoing financial and personal cost of long-term treatment. His reflection captured why so many advocates keep telling these stories in the first place:
"Nobody wants to be born fat, nobody wants to be born with cancer... People with obesity are more noticeable, but we still have feelings." Teodoro Marín Bojorque, Ecuador
José Arturo Vega Boza, Executive Director of the Asociación Lucha Contra La Obesidad (ALCO) in Costa Rica, described the cost of medication - around 300–400 dollars a month, an amount comparable to rent - and how healthcare professionals often give well-meaning but unaffordable advice that does not recognise their circumstances. He stressed that there is no quick fix to obesity, and it is "a marathon, not a sprint."
Dr Ada Cuevas highlighted that access barriers vary widely even within a single country - in Chile, for instance, 80% of the population has public healthcare access, yet medications still aren't covered - and pointed to the urban-rural divide as a further complicating factor.
Dr Halpern reflected on the value of these personal accounts directly: individual experience, he said, is often the most powerful tool for improving understanding, and he welcomed the growing number of people willing to share their stories publicly.
Audience members raised the need for greater empathy from healthcare professionals and stronger media engagement to explain obesity as a disease and help address stigma - with panellists agreeing that media coverage too often focuses on irregular access to medication without addressing why cost remains such a barrier in the first place.
Panel two, chaired by Agustina Luque, turned to prevention at the population level, with Antonia Gama (IAPO, Brazil), Sofía Rincón Gallardo Patiño (Global Health Advocacy Incubator, USA) and Ana Fernanda Sánchez Encalada (Los Fresnos Foundation - Casa de la Diabetes, Ecuador).
Antonia Gama reflected on generational change within her own family, contrasting the care her grandmother received for her comorbidities with the fact that her obesity itself was never named or addressed — and pointed to the "infodemic" of misinformation running alongside the obesity epidemic itself. Sofía Rincón Gallardo Patiño set out the evidence linking ultra-processed foods to obesity and challenged the assumption that healthy diets necessarily cost more, arguing that the real issue is access, and that food environments need to be designed to favour healthier choices. Ana Fernanda Sánchez Encalada spoke about the importance of language, sharing her own preferred framing directly: "I am Ana first, and then I have a disease."
Closing reflections
Closing the session, Vanessa Garcia Larsen of the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that over 60% of the adult population across the region is affected by overweight or obesity, and that no country is immune to the challenge. She underlined that recognising the complexity of obesity is not an excuse for inaction, and that WHO and PAHO's own priorities — labelling, marketing regulation, and fiscal measures on ultra-processed foods — align closely with what the session had heard. Her closing point was blunt: individuals should not bear the burden of obesity alone, since this is a societal challenge that requires a societal response.
Breakfast meeting: what meaningful involvement in research actually means
On the final day of ICO 2026, a breakfast meeting brought together advocates with a range of backgrounds, from published researchers and peer reviewers to people bringing lived experience into research for the first time, to discuss what meaningful involvement in the research process actually entails.
Attendees included Aastha Chugh (India); Salih Hendricks (South Africa); Morgan Salmon (USA/Mexico); Ericka Cuzziol (Brazil); Andrea Levy (Brazil); Teodoro Marín Bojorque (Ecuador); Diana Castillo (Italy/Colombia); Kim Yoohyun (South Korea); Sherezade Errico Rambalducci (Uruguay); and Seilosehina Fifita (Tonga/New Zealand).
The conversation aimed to support the World Obesity Federation in the development of future research delivered in partnership with people with lived experience of obesity. Advocates shared their past experiences with research as well as key characteristics that are essential for meaningful involvement of people with lived experience in research:
Obesity's visibility compounds its stigma
Participants noted that, in several of their countries, obesity is still widely perceived as a lifestyle choice rather than a chronic disease.
Unlike many other chronic conditions, it is immediately visible. Participants noted that other chronic conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, can be hidden. The visibility of obesity contributes to, and compounds, the stigma people face, leaving them immediately open to stigma, discrimination, and weight bias.
Read MoreResearch needs to be actionable
Across the board, advocates were clear that MAPPS II needs to produce actionable findings - evidence that supports advocacy and policy change, not research for its own sake.
Suggestions included accessible, plain-language material explaining obesity, its complexity, and available treatments for the general public, alongside evidence that governments can act on to recognise obesity as a disease. Participants were also interested in further research on the cost of inaction — evidence that has previously proven persuasive with governments by showing that investing in treatment, prevention and anti-stigma work is more cost effective than inaction in the long run.
Though this sits outside the scope of the MAPPS II initiative, it could build on World Obesity’s previous work on the economic impact of obesity.
Involvement has to start early
Kim Soohyun (South Korea) spoke about previously being brought into research only after it was already underway, leaving her feeling that lived experience input had little real influence over the process or results.
The group agreed that early involvement - from the design stage onwards - allows advocates far greater influence over research priorities, questions and interpretation.
Morgan Salmon proposed developing a guidance document setting out exactly how lived experience advocates can get involved in research, particularly to support newcomers who may not yet know how to participate.
Recognition matters as much as involvement
Discussion also turned to authorship: participants noted that lived experience contributors are too often brought in only to share their personal story, and not recognised for their wider expertise. Participants noted that they are frequently placed last in author lists regardless of their level of involvement throughout a project, devaluing their contribution.
The group agreed that a clear, upfront statement of each contributor's role is the best way to ensure fair recognition.
Get involved in MAPPS II
Both sessions point to the same conclusion: the strength of MAPPS II lies in the breadth and honesty of the input behind it. Although the MAPPS II surveys are now closed, get in touch and sign up to stay up to date on findings and opportunities to be involved at the links below.
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