About Obesity
We should change how we view obesity
The Weight Stigma
At Medical Weight Solutions, we treat obesity as a chronic disease, much like other chronic medical diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, arthritis etc.
As health professionals, we have been treating obesity the WRONG way for the past few decades.
Our focus has been largely on dietary approaches only. We have been asking you to eat a bit less and move a bit more. Historically, patients suffering from obesity were viewed as ‘lacking in self-control’, and that it is a ‘personal choice’ to have obesity. When you went to your doctor for weight loss, you have been asked to ‘try a bit harder’.
We should no longer adopt this belief. It is shown that your weight is largely determined from your genes and your early life environment. Patients suffering from obesity often go on a ‘yo-yo’ diet, cyclically losing many kgs on and off. When you lose weight through caloric restriction, the control centres in your brain tell you to stop losing weight and start activating powerful signals to start putting weight on again. Have you thought that losing weight and trying to keep it off seems like a battle? Yes, it is actually a constant battle against your hunger and your body’s desire to preserve its weight. Asking your willpower to constantly fight this battle is not fair at all.
Why treat obesity?
Having obesity does not just affect how you look and your self-confidence. It is associated with multiple other complications/diseases too, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, risk of heart attacks/strokes, fatty liver disease, sleep apnoea, and so on. Having obesity can increase your risk of certain cancers too, such as cancers of the colon, breast, kidney, oesophagus, liver, pancreas, uterus and the list goes on.
Why do I have difficulty with weight loss, especially in the long-term?
Here are the top 5 reasons
1.
‘Diet experts’, commercial weight loss programs, and health professionals not recognising obesity as a continuously relapsing, chronic disease.
2.
Unrealistic weight loss expectations from a plan consisting of only diet + exercise + willpower.
3.
Current health policies that are unfavourable for medical treatment of obesity.
4.
Weight stigma that is prevalent across society. Internalised weight bias towards self. Bias and stigma further negatively affects weight.
5.
Stopping weight-loss medications when they have worked well. Expecting effects of bariatric surgery to be ‘permanent’.
Do I have obesity?
We use the Body Mass Index (BMI) to calculate your risk of obesity. It is far from a perfect measure, but it is the easiest measure we have available. It is not reliable in diagnosing obesity for everyone, but it works most of the time. At Medical Weight Solutions, we do not solely focus on your weight or the amount of weight that you lose. How you feel about your weight loss and the improvement in your quality of life is far more important to us.
| Classification | BMI(kg/m2) |
|---|---|
| Underweight | <18.5 |
| Normal | 18.5 - 24.9 |
| Overweight | 25.0 - 29.9 |
| Class I Obesity | 30.0 - 34.9 |
| Class II Obesity | 35.0 - 39.9 |
| Class III Obesity | ≥40.0 - 49.9 |
| Super Obesity | >50 |
