obesity – Page 7 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

In other posts I defined obesity and explained how it can harm our health.

What is obesity and why does it matter?

Some people who are overweight just want to lose the excess weight and are not that concerned about the health risk if they don’t. No wonder the weight loss business is a multi-million (billion?) industry. When patients ask me for weight loss help, I tell them if I knew a 100% successful method for losing weight, I would be wealthy, and probably not working anymore. I have patients who successfully lose weight, with and without my help, and unfortunately just as many who don’t. Most of the ones who lose weight do it simply-

They change what, how much, and how they cooked and ate.
They start,increase, and continue being physically active.

How one woman lost weight and regained her life

In the May 2015 issue of American Family Physician, a doctor shared the story of a woman whose life events made her feel sad and overwhelmed; she turned to food for comfort. Combined with a sedentary lifestyle, she gained weight. After a health scare, she took her doctor’s advice to see a nutritionist and begin exercising- 10 minutes daily.

For her emotional turmoil she turned to a counsellor, her rabbi and friends.

“I saw a counselor every week who let me cry and express my emotions.”

As her sadness lessened, her motivation to take better care of herself returned. Here is what she did and recommends to journey into fitness and weight loss.

Remove junk food from the house; replace with healthier choices.
Keep chopped up fruit and vegetables available in the refrigerator.
Bake, broil, poach, or steam meats and vegetables.
Eat from small plates.
Try different activities- walking, dancing, exercise videos,
Find a role model to inspire you.

“Do a good deed, no matter how small, every day. Nothing will taste as good as it feels to watch another person appreciate your mitzvah” ( mitzvah- a good deed)
A.G.

Close-ups: Losing Weight and Motivating Others

sharing the HEART of living healthy

Dr. Aletha

In two recent posts (links below) I introduced the medical topic of obesity because-

It is a major concern in the medical community

it is covered extensively in the media

many people are interested in it

One reader’s comment caused me to pause, reflect and realize I need to make a clarification right up front. His comment stated,

“I know this topic is important but it seems society has resorted to fat-shaming while idolizing anorexic-looking people. What do you think?”

Unfortunately, I do agree. People who are overweight have been the subject of jokes, sitcoms, movies. Obese children and teens may be the victims of bullying and ridicule. The fashion world tends to market chiefly to normal or even thin people, especially women’s clothes.

Even the medical community has been guilty of assuming that obesity results merely from lack of will power, motivation and valid attempts to lose weight. In an editorial in The American Journal of Medicine titled “A Candid Discussion of Obesity”, Dr. Robert Doroghazi wrote,

“Sir or Madam, it’s not OK to be obese. Obesity is bad. You are overweight because you eat too much. You also need to exercise more. Your obesity cannot be blamed on ..anything else. You weight too much because you eat too much. Your health and your weight are your responsibility.” ( 2014.09.24)

The rest of Dr. Doroghazi’s editorial was equally blunt, and he does make some valid points. These include

Little progress has been made in the fight against obesity.
The work of obesity advocacy groups has helped to destigmatize obesity.
The various “causations” of obesity keep shifting focus- fast food, soda, television, computers, government, society in general.
We need new ideas and directions about solving this problem.

One conclusion he mentions more than once is probably most important- a person’s health and weight ( but not limited to their weight I would add) is one’s personal responsibility. But that should be true for any medical condition- whether one seeks out the care of a healthcare professional or not, ultimately it is each of our responsibility to get what we need to treat illness and stay healthy.

Telling someone they need to eat less is a start. But the next step is to explore the reasons why that person eats more than they need; not to assign blame, but to reverse the factors that perpetuate the unhealthy behavior. The same goes for exercise; identify what are the barriers to exercise, or what can create an environment more conducive to physical activity.

At a recent national forum on obesity, family physicians advocated for better ways of addressing obesity with patients, and recommended avoiding blaming.

“We don’t do it with other conditions,” Kahan said. “We don’t call people with cancer ‘cancerous’ or call people with depression ‘depressives.’ We should refer to ‘a patient with obesity’ rather than saying ‘he is obese.'”

Patients who struggle with their weight should be treated as someone in need of medical attention, not someone who made bad choices, observed another panelist.

“Obesity is not a sign of weakness or a lack of willpower,” said Don Bradley, M.D., M.H.S.-C.L., from the Duke University Department of Community and Family Medicine. “It is a condition.”

I’ll be posting content reviewing obesity management, what works, what doesn’t and what may be used in the future. Here are the previous posts in case you missed them.

What is obesity and why it matters

Waist size matters