Who Helps Canadians Manage Their Weight?



The short answer, for the vast majority of Canadians, would simply be, “no one”.

Last year, the Canadian Obesity Network undertook a representative survey to examine how Canadians manage their weight.

It turns out that over 65% of overweight Canadians have never talked to a licensed health professional (family doctor, dietitian, pharmacist, etc.) about losing weight. The same is true for over 40% of Canadians, who meet the clinical definition of obesity, i.e. have a BMI greater than 30.

This may probably be as well, because most health professionals are in fact ill-equipped to support individuals struggling with excess weight. Although, health professionals often cite lack of time and resources as the main reason for not broaching the topic, I suspect that the key problem is simply a lack of knowledge and training in weight management.

As I have said before, most health professionals have little more than a layman’s understanding of the complex socio-psycho-biology of energy homeostasis and have virtually no formal training in even the basics of behavioural, medical or surgical management of excess weight.

Add to this an (un)healthy dose of anti-weight prejudice and discrimination and it is probably no surprise why anyone who has ever solicited weight management advice from their health professional is more likely to receive simplistic slogans along the lines of “eat less and move more”, than a meaningful analysis of the problem with a personalized evidence-based management plan.

Indeed, weight management plans too often follow along the lines of well-meant but often ineffective diet or exercise recommendations, that virtually always fail to address the actual root of the problem (see my post – overeating is a symptom).

It should hardly come as a surprise when simply providing an impulsive overeater with a diet plan proves to be about as effective as providing a drinking plan to an alcoholic.

In contrast, teaching time-management skills to people who regularly fall back on fast food for lack of time or offering stress management classes to people who use food as a coping strategy may well be far more effective than simply educating them on healthy choices or handing them recipe books.

Of course patients can always turn to the billion-dollar weight-loss industry, that peddles everything from magical weight loss supplements to crash diets. While some of these program may well be better than others, there is no way a consumer can tell which of these many products and services are likely to be effective or just a waste of money.

Even if patients “successfully” lose weight with any of these products or services, this is rarely more than temporary “symptomatic” relief with a nineteen-in-twenty chance of weight regain within weeks or months of stopping the program.

Rarely do these products or services truly diagnose and address the root cause of the problem – that would require far more than a cursory “one-size-fits-all” business model and is unlikely to deliver the same lucrative profits.

Perhaps, it is time to promote a better public understanding of the many societal and individual level drivers of excess weight and it certainly appears high time health professionals and health care systems seriously took on the challenge of addressing the greatest health problem of our times.

When the problem is excess weight, not helping patients deal with this issue is simply palliative care.

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta