Obesity

Stop blaming patients for not doing enough to stay healthy

Physician
February 20, 2013

“Discrimination against heavy people, by the general public and medical professionals, might be a greater health and social problem than any extra pounds they may be carrying” argues UCLA Professor Abigal Saguy, PhD, in a provocative essay in the Washington Post.

“Despite the fact that body weight is largely determined by an individual’s biology, genetics and social environment, medical providers often blame patients for their weight and blame their …

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Would you accept obesity advice from a fat doctor?

Conditions
September 7, 2012

Something that has been on my mind recently is obesity, specifically obesity in doctors. This may be because we cover obesity in a high percentage of our stories (1 in 3 Americans is obese, after all) or because I recently discovered that I gained ten pounds since moving to New York City. Either way, after watching Dr. Snyderman speak her mind on national television about how obese leaders are unfit …

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Why weight loss advice may be unethical

Physician
September 4, 2012

And issue of Newsweek quotes me as saying, “A lot of our weight-loss recommendations are unethical because we shouldn’t be saying lose weight when there is no chance people will keep it off.“

This quote appears in the context of a lengthy article by Daniel Heimpel that examines whether or not the obesity epidemic is being oversold.

While I personally do not think that the obesity epidemic is being oversold, I do …

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Overweight people have a weight thermostat that is turned up too high

Conditions
January 22, 2012

I’ve written many times that losing weight is the second hardest thing I ask my patients to do. (Breaking an addiction like smoking or alcoholism is the hardest.) The frustrating thing is how little we know about how to lose weight successfully. But we are learning more all the time about why losing weight is so difficult.

Much about dieting and weight loss is poorly understood, but let’s first lay out …

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Obesity is a sign of good health in some cultures

Conditions
January 20, 2012

On the first day of the 1st Caribbean Obesity Forum, I presented various talks on obesity – its economic implications, its assessment and the need for firmly anchoring obesity treatment in primary care.

Interestingly, several family doctors in the audience raised the interesting issue that here on Barbados (as probably on other islands) many patients are actually quite happy with their weights.

One family physician noted in his presentation the case of …

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