In this 2024 review, the authors propose that obesity may be better understood not as a passive consequence of overeating, but as an intrinsic disorder of metabolic fuel partitioning in which fat becomes “trapped” in adipose tissue. Rather than excess calories simply spilling into fat stores, the paper argues that hormonal and cellular signals—particularly involving insulin and adipocyte biology—can impair fat mobilization, reducing the availability of circulating fuels and potentially driving hunger and energy conservation as compensatory responses. This model shifts the focus from willpower and caloric balance to the biological regulation of energy storage and release, suggesting that disrupted fuel trafficking may play a central role in obesity pathogenesis.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.13795