Obesity is a major concern for governments worldwide. In the UK alone, it is estimated that the direct costs of obesity to the National Health Service total £6 billion ($8.5 billion), with prevalence standing at an astonishing 27% in 2015. In the USA, the rate for adults is higher still, totalling 36.5%. For these reasons, obesity has been labelled ‘a national emergency’ by Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s health secretary and an ‘epidemic crisis’ by the US Surgeon General David Satcher (in 2001). Shahzad Ali from Plasticell navigates the causes and a possible solution to this critical issue.