Article - Futile for MDs to treat obesity?
This thoughtful article from the Windsor Star made interesting reading.
We WLS champions have of course tackled our obesity in an aggressive way - but 99% of us AFTER trying all the conservative methods for weight-loss.
I wonder about our children and current society's TV-and computer-culture. Are they all headed for disaster, especially with doctors now questioning their own approach to obesity?
http://www.windsorstar.com/health/futile+treat+obesity/66697 88/story.html
We WLS champions have of course tackled our obesity in an aggressive way - but 99% of us AFTER trying all the conservative methods for weight-loss.
I wonder about our children and current society's TV-and computer-culture. Are they all headed for disaster, especially with doctors now questioning their own approach to obesity?
http://www.windsorstar.com/health/futile+treat+obesity/66697 88/story.html
Yes, it is futile for doctors to treat obesity only because they really have no idea HOW to treat it. They spew the old "eat-less-move-more" idea that just does not work long term - if it did, obesity wouldn't be an issue.
The causes are so varied that it's really impossible to come up with a "one-size-fits-all" solution and that's what they do with obese patients.
I actually feel bad for doctors who try and treat obesity because they're at a loss just like the rest of us. I can pinpoint certain events in my life that caused me to overeat but I couldn't definitively say that these caused obesity. And if I, who lived it can't pinpoint the cause, how can a doctor? It's not like treating strep throat where we can pinpoint the cause & administer a treatment that's effective. There are too many variables with obesity.
The causes are so varied that it's really impossible to come up with a "one-size-fits-all" solution and that's what they do with obese patients.
I actually feel bad for doctors who try and treat obesity because they're at a loss just like the rest of us. I can pinpoint certain events in my life that caused me to overeat but I couldn't definitively say that these caused obesity. And if I, who lived it can't pinpoint the cause, how can a doctor? It's not like treating strep throat where we can pinpoint the cause & administer a treatment that's effective. There are too many variables with obesity.
Obesity is such a comlex disease, that it is hard to treat. It is part learned behaviour, partly emotionally driven, and (probably more than currently recognized), partly genetic. Everyone knows of that skinny person who can eat junk all the time, and yet they don't gain obscene amounts of weight. There has to be a significant genetic predisposition to being obese. That coupled with individual life experiences, and habits learned early on in life, makes obesity a tough nut to crack. Not to mention that they put so many unidentifiable ingredients into processed foods, that it is no wonder we crave that stuff all day long!
I don't know what the right answer is, but it certainly starts with prevention in our youngest generations. Even that is hard to know how to handle. You need to limit the "treats", yet you don't want to deprive them entirely, and cause a feeling of deprivation, since that will only lead to "rebellion" later on. You want to teach them to think in healthy ways about their relationship with food, yet how easy is it to send the message that food is a reward. Teachers (not me- I might add. I can't keep candy in my room or I'll eat it), and parents alike, offer treats as reward for success all the time. Even the sentiment that children can have a treat once they finish the healthy food on their plates is like saying "Here's an unhealthy reward for being healthy and eating sensible foods". Yet we impart that message all the time. It is a really, really, hard battle to fight.
What I do know, is that the comercial weightloss industry is a multi-billion dollar business in our country, AND it thrives on two simple facts; that the treatment weightloss is largely unsucessfull, and that people will always feel shamed into losing weight.
In the article, they mentioned about a new protocol for handling obese patients, including asking patients if they can speak to them about their weight. I'd like to see those protocols I centainly would like to see the stigma of being obese erased, but sometimes I wonder if I hadn't felt ashamed of being fat, would I have finally made the decision to have WLS and finally rid myself of the excess? Shame was certainly a large part of it.
Anyhow, lots to think about. Good read. Thx Gabby.
I don't know what the right answer is, but it certainly starts with prevention in our youngest generations. Even that is hard to know how to handle. You need to limit the "treats", yet you don't want to deprive them entirely, and cause a feeling of deprivation, since that will only lead to "rebellion" later on. You want to teach them to think in healthy ways about their relationship with food, yet how easy is it to send the message that food is a reward. Teachers (not me- I might add. I can't keep candy in my room or I'll eat it), and parents alike, offer treats as reward for success all the time. Even the sentiment that children can have a treat once they finish the healthy food on their plates is like saying "Here's an unhealthy reward for being healthy and eating sensible foods". Yet we impart that message all the time. It is a really, really, hard battle to fight.
What I do know, is that the comercial weightloss industry is a multi-billion dollar business in our country, AND it thrives on two simple facts; that the treatment weightloss is largely unsucessfull, and that people will always feel shamed into losing weight.
In the article, they mentioned about a new protocol for handling obese patients, including asking patients if they can speak to them about their weight. I'd like to see those protocols I centainly would like to see the stigma of being obese erased, but sometimes I wonder if I hadn't felt ashamed of being fat, would I have finally made the decision to have WLS and finally rid myself of the excess? Shame was certainly a large part of it.
Anyhow, lots to think about. Good read. Thx Gabby.
Referral Sent: March 19, 2010
Surgery date with Dr. Denis Hong: December 9, 2010
The same article was published in the Ottawa Citizen (I didn't check word for word, but...)
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Treatment+obesity+failur e+doctors+argue/6656093/story.html
In the Citizen, it allowed people to comment. Most being people we fight against every day, ones who have never been overweight let alone obese, and have never had to fight with this disease. I usually laugh at the comments, knowing that they are from the uninformed, but this time they bothered me, most said eat less and exercise (and like we've never heard that one before) and that it shouldn't be treated, that it was our fault we are like this. I was really wanting to post something to them, but 1, I wouldn't dignify their comments with real information, and 2, I was worried I'd say something stupid which I would regret.
I will agree, that obesity is usually the visible symptom of other causes, and that the causes should be treated as well as the symptom (like those of us here are doing). But one of the biggest causes is society, and like asking a city councel to vote for reducing councellers, it won't change. Our grandparents weren't obese, but that was because most people lived on a farm, and worked all day to survive, and that included the children. So how thety cooked what they ate wasn't as big of a factor. Back then, commuting wasn't heard of. Also, there wasn't such a thing as office buildings over one or maybe 2 stories high. Today, there is a large population that work in a small area that where it is not possible for everyone to live close enough to walk (hense traffic issues). So people are commuting (I'm about 70 K from my work) due to housing availabliity and cost. 60 years ago, my commute would have been from my back door to the fields, or on horseback driving cattle. Or if I was in town, walking to the factory. There was more physical work that wasn't realized back then, now we sit at desks in little cubicles with little movement required (besides fingers on a keyboard). So now we have to find other ways to be physiaclly active. And if you look at schools who want kids to have more physically active children, they've cut back recesses. When I went to school, there was 2 15 minute recesses and 1 lunch hour (20 minutes to eat, and 40 to play). Now I think there is only 2 20 minute recesses, maybe a bit more).
Sorry, one of my pet peeves, so I rant.
Cathy
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Treatment+obesity+failur e+doctors+argue/6656093/story.html
In the Citizen, it allowed people to comment. Most being people we fight against every day, ones who have never been overweight let alone obese, and have never had to fight with this disease. I usually laugh at the comments, knowing that they are from the uninformed, but this time they bothered me, most said eat less and exercise (and like we've never heard that one before) and that it shouldn't be treated, that it was our fault we are like this. I was really wanting to post something to them, but 1, I wouldn't dignify their comments with real information, and 2, I was worried I'd say something stupid which I would regret.
I will agree, that obesity is usually the visible symptom of other causes, and that the causes should be treated as well as the symptom (like those of us here are doing). But one of the biggest causes is society, and like asking a city councel to vote for reducing councellers, it won't change. Our grandparents weren't obese, but that was because most people lived on a farm, and worked all day to survive, and that included the children. So how thety cooked what they ate wasn't as big of a factor. Back then, commuting wasn't heard of. Also, there wasn't such a thing as office buildings over one or maybe 2 stories high. Today, there is a large population that work in a small area that where it is not possible for everyone to live close enough to walk (hense traffic issues). So people are commuting (I'm about 70 K from my work) due to housing availabliity and cost. 60 years ago, my commute would have been from my back door to the fields, or on horseback driving cattle. Or if I was in town, walking to the factory. There was more physical work that wasn't realized back then, now we sit at desks in little cubicles with little movement required (besides fingers on a keyboard). So now we have to find other ways to be physiaclly active. And if you look at schools who want kids to have more physically active children, they've cut back recesses. When I went to school, there was 2 15 minute recesses and 1 lunch hour (20 minutes to eat, and 40 to play). Now I think there is only 2 20 minute recesses, maybe a bit more).
Sorry, one of my pet peeves, so I rant.
Cathy
(deactivated member)
on 5/24/12 7:45 am - Guelph, Canada
on 5/24/12 7:45 am - Guelph, Canada
the balanced day idea is horrid! my daughter will come home and eat eat eat cause she is so hungry cause she didnt have enough time to eat at school cause they rush them outside.. they have 10 minutes 2X a day to eat and then are tossed outside for the remaining time.
My daughter is a slow eater it will take her 40 min on average to finish dinner... and 30 min finish a bowl of cereal in the morning... Oh wait isnt that what they preach to us.. slow down and chew... dont swollow everything whole... hmmmm...
My daughter is a slow eater it will take her 40 min on average to finish dinner... and 30 min finish a bowl of cereal in the morning... Oh wait isnt that what they preach to us.. slow down and chew... dont swollow everything whole... hmmmm...
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