{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T04:53:28Z","timestamp":1791003208161,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790899200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790899200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Obesity Reviews"],"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is the most effective treatment for severe obesity, yet it remains profoundly underutilized. Patients seeking MBS face pretreatment requirements, including mandatory psychological evaluation, documented failed diet attempts, and months of lifestyle interventions that are substantially more extensive than those required for most common gastrointestinal procedures. These requirements were initially developed with patient safety in mind, but evidence has accumulated that many lack outcome\u2010specific support and have become barriers to care, particularly as third\u2010party payers have increasingly used them to restrict access. Meanwhile, potent obesity management medications (OMMs) are prescribed with relatively limited oversight, often to individuals with preclinical disease, at costs that raise questions about economic sustainability. The Lancet Diabetes &amp; Endocrinology Commission's distinction between preclinical obesity (excess adiposity with preserved organ function) and clinical obesity (a systemic illness characterized by objective organ dysfunction or substantial limitations of daily activities) provides a framework for evaluating current treatment access patterns. A critical implication of this framework, which warrants further exploration, is that it may narrow the population for whom medical treatment is considered necessary: for individuals with preclinical obesity, excess adiposity represents a risk state requiring monitoring and evidence\u2010based counseling, not generally an ongoing illness requiring pharmacotherapy or surgery. This paper examines whether the current pattern, relatively low barriers to expensive, chronic pharmacotherapy for preclinical or early\u2010stage disease; relatively high barriers to durable, cost\u2010effective surgery for established clinical obesity, represents a departure from severity\u2010matched care that warrants systematic reconsideration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/obr.70240","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T04:20:00Z","timestamp":1791001200000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Changing Landscape of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Aligning Access With the Clinical Obesity Framework"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6610-4094","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco Saverio","family":"Papadia","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Sciences and Integrated Diagnostics (DISC) University of Genoa School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences  Genoa Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8779-3055","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo Vitor","family":"Cohen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for the Treatment of Obesity and Diabetes Hospital Alem\u00e3o Oswaldo Cruz  S\u00e3o Paulo Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4156-078X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Bernante","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences University of Bologna  Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6594-4852","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mirto","family":"Foletto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bariatric Surgery Unit Padova University Hospital  Padua Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_19_2_1","unstructured":"American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery The Obesity Society Obesity Action Coalition et\u00a0al. \u201cConsensus Statement on Obesity as a Disease \u201d (2022) https:\/\/asmbs.org\/resources\/consensus\u2010statement\u2010on\u2010obesity\u2010as\u2010a\u2010disease."},{"issue":"8","key":"e_1_2_19_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"741","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa066254","article-title":"Effects of Bariatric Surgery on Mortality in Swedish Obese Subjects","volume":"357","author":"Sjostrom L.","year":"2007","journal-title":"New England Journal of Medicine"},{"issue":"7","key":"e_1_2_19_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"641","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1600869","article-title":"Bariatric Surgery Versus Intensive Medical Therapy for Diabetes\u20145\u2010Year Outcomes","volume":"376","author":"Schauer P. 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