We read headlines every day, about how overweight is a threat to public health, because many people risk getting chronically ill from comorbidities such as type-2 diabetes, cancer and high blod pressure. If you question researchers closely, however, no one can put the deciding finger on, why more and more are getting heavily overweight.

The exhibition is not a recipe for a flat stomach, but, on the contrary, an exploration of what the problem really is.

In the health sciences, researchers work intensively to solve the riddle, and just in the past five years, several discoveries have been made, which raises hopes that the big breakthrough is just around the corner. The exhibition explores the problem from several angles, to show how obesity has been understood and treated, in the past and present. Simultaneously, the exhibition will engage in the newest research and, maybe, lift a corner of the veil on the future.

The exhibition takes the Gastric Bypass operation as a starting point. In the mid-1990s, a group of doctors discovered, that this exact surgical operation cured patients with type-2 diabetes almost immediately. This unintended effect of the operation, which was ordained to support a weight loss, has led to new research in gastrointestinal hormones and their meaning for the body’s metabolism and can therefore lead to a new understanding of the causes behind obesity.

Click here for download (in Danish)

The exhibition was made by a group from the staff of Medical Museion:  Bente Vinge Pedersen, Niels Christian Vilstrup-Møller, Nanna Gerdes, Ane Pilegaard Sørensen and Sven Erik Hansen with the help of many experts from The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Hvidovre Hospital and others.