Overview
Do you know weight loss may be more dangerous than obesity? As per the experts from Auckland, obesity is healthier than over focusing on BMI and the most anti-obesity efforts which don’t work and may be fat shaming. So basically what obese people need is very good health support with no mention of being overweight. Therefore healthy living initiative such as Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, #Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign or TLC’s “The Biggest Loser” and “My 600-lb Life” fail since they target the fat as problem.
Obesity is one of the most pervasive and chronic disease needing new strategies for medical treatment and prevention. As the leading cause of United States morbidity, mortality, disability, healthcare costs and utilization, the high instance of obesity continues to strain the healthcare system in the US. Since obesity is defined as excess adipose tissue there are several methods for determining the excess adipose or fat tissues and the most common one being the BMI. It is a disease affecting more than a thirs of the US adult population.
As per the CDC, it is estimated that around 112,000 deaths per year are related to obesity which puts individuals at risk of more than 30 chronic health conditions such as degenerative joint disease, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, hypertension, fatty liver disease, GERD, heart failure, birth defects, heart diseases, sleep apnea, asthma, heart disease, stress incontinence, miscarriages and other respiratory conditions and numerous cancers.
Fat is safer than being told you're fat
As per a researcher from New Zealand who looked primarily at obese pregnant women but extrapolated the findings to also include all the overweight people as well. Some moms to be have reported of fat-shaming by the maternity doctors and then avoid the maternity care so as not to be advised for losing weight. As per scientists, the diet suggestions are more detrimental for patients who have lowered self-esteem from being told they were obese.
There's more to health than BMI
Often the patients complain that doctors do not look beyond obesity to other non-weight related problems. The study agrees that patient’s overall health should be focused and not their weight. Many conditions are not caused by weight but are exacerbated by it. None of these improve by being obese. Type 2 diabetes, health attack, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, sleep apnea, heart disease, hypertension, liver trouble, cholesterol and circulation problems, impaired cognition, some cancer and chronic pain have been associated with obesity. Morbid obesity is a disability so the question is which came first the obesity or other health related problems?
Too much emphasis on lifestyle choices
As per professor, doctors discuss the patient responsibility for weight gain more than they should which make them feel at fault. Therefor the overweight patients feel shame for their weight. Then they do not tend to be motivated to change their eating habits. Obesity isn’t even about the lifestyle choices but how people feel. As per Jamie Oliver on “Food Revolution” kids who were taught to eat healthy could and did lose some weight and felt better after having done so.
There's more to obesity than appearance
As per the Auckland University scientists, there is a fault with the diet, exercise and weight loss efforts due to look-orientation as if it is the only thing impacting i.e. the appearance. They do not address the known associations of the lifestyle diseases and also didn’t explain how anti-obesity initiative should separate weight from the general health.
Fat-shaming or anti-obesity awareness?
So is it bullying to advise weight loss? Doctors are paid to aid patients to get healthy even if it means by telling them to lose weight as they are simply doing their jobs.
Bottom Line
Unfortunately, blurring the lines between fat-shamming and weight loss advice has enable the patients to stay overweight and obesity since they have an excuse to do so.
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