Search Results for "airline seat"
Make War on Obesity – Not on Obese People!
Yesterday I blogged about how many folks with extra pounds do not see their excess weight as a health risk. Readers of these pages will also recall that I am the first to acknowledge how difficult it is to lose weight and keep it off or that successful weight management starts with stopping the gain and not with losing weight. So yesterday, a regular reader pointed me to an article in the Globe and Mail by Edith Honan on the fat-acceptance movement which lobbies against weight discrimination and promotes the idea of being as healthy as possible at any weight rather than pursuing unrealistic (and according to some fat-acceptance advocates, unnecessary) weight-loss targets. As Kate Harding, one of the most prolific fat-acceptance advocates is quoted, “Being fat doesn’t make me lazy or stupid or morally suspect”. While many of the issues and arguments of the fat-acceptance folks are very real and sensible, I also have no doubt that when excess weight is, or threatens to become, a health problem, there are also very real benefits to effective weight management. In fact I have very rarely met patients, who after successful weight management would voluntarily go back to regaining their lost weight (that many do, is besides the point). So while I am definitely not a militant weight-loss advocate, I am certainly an advocate for sensible obesity-management. I fully support the notion that weight discrimination is very real and unfair (e.g. the airline seat issue) and very much know that for many, successful weight management simply means not getting any heavier. None of this, however, makes me an advocate for weight gain and I certainly would not promote the notion that excessive weight gain is OK as long as it makes you happy. I simply see too many patients in my clinic for whom the mental, mechanical, and metabolic health problems directly related to their excess weight are very real. so, while I am all for fighting weight discrimination, I am also all for increasing access to evidence-based obesity treatments for those in whom excess weight is destroying their health and quality of life. I fully agree with Yale University’s Rebecca Puhl, who in the article is quoted as saying, “We do need to fight obesity, but not obese people”. AMS Edmonton, Alberta p.s. Hat Tip to regular reader Ann Hastings for pointing me to the G&M article
Obesity in 2009
I know I may be going out on a limb here but perhaps it would be a bit of fun to make a few predictions on what may happen with regard to obesity in 2009. Of course, at the end of the year, we can check to see how accurate my forecast was. So here I go: 1) The economic downturn will not lead to lower obesity rates: If anything, I predict that obesity rates (especially severe obesity) will get worse. Lots of reasons for that – more people sitting at home in front of their TVs reaching for comfort food and drink (including more cheap alcohol). Restaurants will do all they can to retain increasingly cost-conscious customers with two-for-one, kids-eat-free, and all-you-can-eat “value” deals. Consumption of energy-dense fast foods will go up, more people with skip meals (only to overeat at supper), and some will have no choice but to save on fresh produce. Some may cancel gym and club memberships or save on sporting equipment and fees. For someone looking into an economic abyss, health and weight is unlikely to be top of mind. 2) There will be more public health attempts at prevention: Canada or at least a few provinces may consider following some of the recent initiatives seen in the USA including taxation of sugary pop, calories on menus, and more restrictions on advertising and sale of junk and snack foods to kids. Will this reduce obesity rates – well, definitely not in the foreseeable future. 3) Obesity will be increasingly recognised as a chronic condition and as the “root cause” of the “chronic diseases of the young” (a term I use to describe the fact that we will continue to see more and more obesity-related chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, back pain, sleep apnea, reflux, etc.) in younger and younger adults – a trend virtually entirely due to the increase in obesity rates). I predict that this recognition will at long last lead to health systems and health professionals realising that obesity needs to be addressed within the same framework and with the same strategies as every other chronic disease. Various provinces will begin looking at and supporting obesity treatments – especially for individuals with severe obesity. (I may be too optimistic on this one!) 4) There will be an exponential growth in demand for bariatric surgery: With the continuing expansion of the data on the remarkable… Read More »
