The Weight Of Living

In its approach to addressing weight bias and discrimination, the Canadian Obesity Network recently launched the “Weight of Living” (WoL) project on its facebook page. Modelled on “Humans of New York”, WoL presents images and stories of Canadians living with obesity in all their diversity and variation. After all, nothing is more effective in breaking down stereotypes and barriers than realizing that people living with obesity are no different from everyone else, in their hopes, their dreams, their challenges, their aspirations – doing their best to cope and overcome what life throws at them. Rather than promoting a culture of fat-shaming and blaming, the Canadian Obesity Network seeks to destigmatise those living with obesity by encouraging them to share their real stories in their own words. Thus, this project seeks to dismantle the stereotypes that surround the lives of people who live with obesity, including the notion that everyone who has overweight or obesity wants to lose weight because they are unhappy with themselves. Many of the stories you will see in the upcoming weeks do not reflect this. The Canadian Obesity Network hopes that, by sharing these experiences, we all will realize that people who have overweight or obese have goals, dreams, and aspirations just like everyone else, and that their weight is not necessarily a barrier to achieving these, nor is it something that needs to be a source of fear and shame. In contrast to many other “weight-loss” sites, the Canadian Obesity Network will not publish stories that glorify weight loss journeys, commercial programs or products, or extreme weight loss attempts. “While we respect the importance and validity of each story we receive, publishing stories like these only serve to reinforce the idea that people who are overweight or obese are living unhappy, unfulfilling lives – and we know you are worth so much more than that.” Check out the first WoL stories here, here, here, and here For more information on how to participate in this project click here or send an e-mail to levitsky@obesitynetwork.ca. @DrSharma Edmonton, AB

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My Miniseries on Obesity As a Disease

Over the past weeks, I have presented a miniseries on the pros and cons of calling obesity a chronic disease. Clearly, I am convinced that the arguments in favour, carry far greater chances of effectively preventing and controlling obesity (defined as abnormal or excess body fat that impairs health) than continuing to describe obesity merely as a matter of ‘lifestyle’ or simply a ‘risk factor’ for other diseases. That said, I would like to acknowledge that the term ‘disease’ is a societal construct (there is, to my knowledge no binding legal or widely accepted scientific definition of what exactly warrants the term ‘disease’). As all societal constructs are subject to change, our definitions of disease are subject to change. Conditions that may once have been deemed a ‘normal’ feature of aging (e.g. type 2 diabetes or dementia) have long risen to the status of ‘diseases’.  This recognition has had profound impact on everything from human rights legislations to health insurance to the emphasis given to these conditions in medical education and practice. People living with obesity deserve no less. Thus, I come down heavily on the ‘utilitarian’ principle of calling obesity a disease. When, calling obesity a ‘disease’ best serves the interests of those affected by the condition, then, by all means, call obesity a ‘disease’ – it is as simple as that. First consequences of the American Medical Association declaring obesity a chronic disease are already evident (see here and here). We can only hope for the same impact of the Canadian Medical Association declaring obesity a disease – the sooner, the better for all Canadians living with obesity. @DrSharma Edmonton, AB

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Arguments For Calling Obesity A Disease #9: Medical Education

Next in my miniseries on the pros and cons of calling obesity a ‘disease’, I turn to the issue of medical education. From the first day in medical school, I learnt about diseases – their signs and symptoms, their definitions and classifications, their biochemistry and physiology, their prognosis and treatments. Any medical graduate will happily recite the role and function of ADH, ATP, ANP, TSH, ACTH, AST, ALT, MCV and a host of other combinations of alphabet soup related to even the most obscure physiology and function – everything, except the alphabet soup related to ingestive behaviour, energy regulation, and caloric expenditure. Most medical students and doctors will never have heard of POMC, α-MSH, PYY, AgRP, CART, MC4R, or any of the well studied and long-known key molecules involved in appetite regulation. Many will have at best a vague understanding of RMR, TEE, TEF, or NEAT. The point is, that even today, we are graduating medical doctors, who have at best a layman’s understanding of the complex biology of appetite and energy regulation, let alone a solid grasp of the clinical management of obesity. Imagine a medical doctor, who has never heard of β-cells or insulin or glucagon or GLUT4-transporters trying to manage a patient with diabetes. Or a medical doctor, who has never heard of renin or aldosterone or angiotensinogen or angiotensin 2 trying to manage your blood pressure. How about a medical doctor, who has never heard of T3 or T4 or TSH managing your thyroid disease? Elevating obesity to a ‘disease’ means that medical schools will no longer have an excuse to not teach students about the complex sociopsychobiology of obesity, its complications, prognosis, and treatments. As I mentioned in a previous post, suddenly, managing obesity has become their job. No longer will it be acceptable for doctors to simply tell their patients to control their weight, with no stake in if and how they actually did it. Thus, if there is just one thing that calling obesity a ‘disease’ can change, it is expecting all health professionals to have as much understanding of obesity as they are currently expected to have of diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, and any other common disease they are likely to encounter in their medical practice. Apparently, simply treating obesity as a ‘lifestyle’ problem or ‘risk factor’ was not enough – hopefully, recognising obesity as a  ‘disease’ in its own right, will change the attention given to this issue in medical… Read More »

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Arguments For Calling Obesity A Disease #8: Can Reduce Stigma

Next, in this miniseries on arguments for and against calling obesity a disease, I turn to the issue of stigma. One of the biggest arguments against calling obesity, is the fear that doing so can increase stigma against people living with obesity. This is nonsense, because I do not think it is at all possible for anything to make stigma and the discrimination of people living with obesity worse than it already is. If anything, calling obesity a disease (defined as excess or abnormal body fat that impairs your health), could well serve to reduce that stigma by changing the narrative around obesity. The current narrative sees obesity largely as a matter of personal choice involving poor will power to control your diet and unwillingness to engage in even a modest amount of regular physical activity. In contrast, the term ‘disease’ conjures up the notion of complex biology including genetics, epigenetics, neurohormonal dysregulation, environmental toxins, mental health issues and other factors including social determinants of health, that many will accept are beyond the simple control of the individual. This is not to say that other diseases do not carry stigma. This has and remains the case for diseases ranging from HIV/AIDS to depression – but, the stigma surrounding these conditions has been vastly reduced by changing the narrative of these illnesses. Today, we are more likely to think of depression (and other mental illnesses) as a problem related to “chemicals in the brain”, than something that people can pull out of with sheer motivation and will power. Perhaps changing the public narrative around obesity, from simply a matter of motivation and will power, to one that invokes the complex sociopsychobiology that really underlies this disorder, will, over time, also help reduce the stigma of obesity. Once we see obesity as something that can affect anyone (it can), for which we have no easy solutions (we don’t), and which often requires medical or surgical treatment (it does) best administered by trained and regulated health professionals (like for other diseases), we can perhaps start destigmatizing this condition and change the climate of shame and blame that people with this disease face everyday. @DrSharma Edmonton, AB

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Arguments For Calling Obesity A Disease #7: Demands Empathy

Next in my miniseries on arguments for calling obesity a disease is the issue of empathy. Our normal response to people who happen to be affected by a disease – including lung cancer and STDs – is at least some measure of empathy (even if residual stigma continues to exist). Even if the disease was entirely preventable and you did your lot to hasten its development, once you declare yourself as having diabetes, or heart disease, or stroke, or cancer, the expected social response is empathy – and not just from family, friends, and colleagues. Thus, diseases demand empathy – that’s the normal, ethical, humane response. But apparently not towards people affected by obesity. Here the response is blame, shame, disgust, jokes, name calling, and even physical attacks (spitting, pushing, shoving, beating – you name it). No empathy, so sympathy, no understanding, no compassion – i.e perhaps until we call obesity a “disease”. Then, suddenly, everything changes – because diseases demand empathy. Perhaps this is the real reason that some folks are so vehemently against calling obesity a disease – to fully accept that obesity is a disease, they would have to show empathy – not something they feel people living with obesity quite deserve. After all, how can you still make jokes and poke fun at people living with a disease? How can you still shame and blame people living with obesity, if we call it a disease? How can you still wage a “war” on obesity – take no prisoners? That’s definitely a spoiler! Think about it! @DrSharma Edmonton, AB

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