Source: http://frugaldad.com
Thanks Beth!
I've been meaning to blog about 'critical obesity' forever- but just haven't been able to find time. However, a classmate of mine, Nicole Bergen, wrote a great article on the topic, for her journalism class. It's such a well-written piece that offers a great overview of the subject, and I'm so happy she gave me permission to post part of it for you to read.
Great job, Nicki!
Sara can hardly remember a time when she wasn’t concerned about her weight. Since the age of 16, she has experimented with Weight Watchers, appetite-suppressant pills, restrictive diets and arduous exercise routines. The now-24-year-old teacher consulted a number of medical doctors for weight advice, but grew increasingly disheartened with their approach. “They were putting it on me that I was lazy or that I got this way because I never exercise or have unhealthy habits, “ Sara said. “They told me what an optimal [weight] goal would be, but didn’t offer any new insight on how to get there.”
Dr. Arya Sharma, a Professor of Medicine and obesity researcher at the University of Alberta agrees that the medical profession may not be adequately prepared to offer constructive weight-loss advice. “Not all health care providers are trained to assess and treat obesity,” he said.
The current Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines for Obesity define overweight and obese according to a patient’s height and weight, using a measurement known as BMI (body mass index). For most overweight patients, the guidelines emphasize weight loss through diet and exercise therapy. Sara said that she spent only about 10 minutes discussing healthy lifestyle choices with her doctor.
This type of approach is almost certain to fail as a weight-loss treatment. Studies from a variety of regions and populations repeatedly log success rates of less than five per cent. In a 2007 edition of the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the combined results from 80 scientific reports concluded that advice-based weight-loss attempts produced minimal results, both initially and in the long-term.
A little unsettling for a nation with no shortage of overweight and obese people trying to lose weight.
Lucy Aphramor, a dietitian and obesity researcher in the UK, questioned the ethics of recommending weight-loss treatments that have such resounding failure rates. In 2005 she wrote “The reality is that we do not have an effective weight-loss treatment to recommend.”
Societal demonization of fatness may be fuelling an obsession with thinness. Motivation to lose weight has extended beyond health concerns, to a pursuit for social acceptance. And, according to Sharma, this is an important distinction. It usually takes only a small amount of weight loss to see significant health benefits; the process of achieving a desired body type, however, requires more effort.
“Managing expectations is a big part of making weight goals,” Sharma said. “It is never a good idea to use optimism as motivation or set someone up for failure.”
When Sara’s doctor provided unhelpful advice, she joined a gym and began weekly sessions with a nutritionist and personal trainer. “They probably spent about three hours catering a diet to my specific needs,” she said. “I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, and when I first approached them they didn’t know a lot about it. They did some research and developed a good understanding.” Sara is confident in the advice that she receives at the gym, and has met some of her goals.
After working in the weight-loss industry, Mabel Pang-Bishop has changed her views about weight-loss treatment. Pang-Bishop sold meal supplements for a commercial weight-loss program for two years, and then realized that she had become part of the problem. “We marketed a program that was very restrictive and claimed to be a safer alternative,” she said. “But the program is structured for people to fail. There were some successes, but mostly yo-yoing. Our customers saw themselves as failures in their weight-loss goals and therefore failures in life.”
Now, Pang-Bishop is a graduate student at the Ryerson School of Nutrition, studying an emerging field she calls ‘critical obesity studies.’ A critical perspective on obesity promotes health at every size, and looks beyond diet and exercise to broader, social determinants of health and social justice. “I knew there was something more to weight loss than energy in and energy out,” she said. “Why do we accept ideas without questioning them? It is important to be aware that there’s more out there.”
After close to fifty years of hawking fatty food directly to kids, Ronald McDonald is being urged to retire.
The findings come amid growing recognition of the fast food industry’s primary role in driving the epidemic of childhood obesity and diet-related disease.
“This clown is no friend to our children or their health,” said Senior Organizer Deborah Lapidus of Corporate Accountability International. “No icon has ever been more effective in hooking kids on a harmful product. Kids have become more obese and less healthy on his watch. He’s a deep-fried Joe Camel for the 21st Century. He deserves a break, and so do our kids.”
For poll results, an analysis of Ronald McDonald’s pervasive presence on the American landscape, a background on the psychology behind children’s marketing and more visit www.RetireRonald.org.
Dietitians, as stated by Dietitians of Canada (the “nation-wide voice of Dietitians”) , are trained to advise on diet, food and nutrition.
Simple, right? We study nutrition for 3-4 years , making us experts in the field of nutrition, and therefore able to advise, counsel and educate our clients on what food choices can best help them meet their health needs and goals.
Well, some argue that this is kind of presumptuous: who are dietitians to blindly tell you that you should be eating fruits and vegetables to decrease your cancer risk? What makes them the expert of you?
This is Hogwash...Right?
Firstly, on a one-on-one basis, a good Dietitian wouldn’t assume that she's an “expert of you” and wouldn’t simply tell you what to eat. She’ll get a good picture of what’s going on in your life first: learn about your culture and how you eat, ask about your health and learn about your family and their health, ask you what your health and nutrition concerns are, how you’re coping financially, etc. She’ll ask you lots of questions and use this information when making her suggestions.
At the public health level though, we have to use our expertise to educate the public about what they should be eating, right? In this case, it makes sense to send the message “increase your fruit and vegetable intake to decrease your cancer risk”.
Not so, according to some. Not holistic enough. Still too presumptuous.
I admit, I thought this was all hogwash... until I read an article called ‘Public Health Nutrition and Food Policy”.
It basically says that campaigns that target the individual, telling them to eat more of this, less of that, exercise more, weigh this much, etc., miss the mark. By putting the onus on the individual, we’re not dealing with the bigger issues like:
Why is broccoli more expensi
ve than a hamburger? Why is it that we don’t really know where our food comes from? Why do very few Big Food corporations monopolize all our food and control their prices? Why is it that in 2 of the richest countries in the world, 15% of American households (17 million), and 9% of Canadian households (1.1 million) worry about where their next meal is coming from? Why are there are 800 million people hungry on this planet and 1 billion overweight?
So what’s a Dietitian to do?
While we still need to advise, educate, and promote good nutrition, and interpret new related research, our role is bigger than that. We need to get involved at the policy level.
Easier said than done, I know.
As a start, if you're Canadian, asking the Federal government to regulate trans fats in foods is one way to get involved in policy (See yesterday's post!). Hopefully I'll learn of more ways we can get involved that I can share with you... and let me know if you know of any.
the Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism at Louisiana State University, Eric Ravussin, as saying:
fferent studies showing that when we exercise more, we tend to eat more... too much more.
One partial curl-up: you’re on your back, knees bent, arms along your side. Lift your head and torso up, and go down slowly without touching your head to the ground.
The Study
The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) was just published – the Stats Canada study is the first one to properly assess the health and fitness of Canadians since 1981.
Earlier similar studies have relied on self-reported information, which, as we know, isn’t very accurate. This one actually weighed, measured and tested about 5000 Canadians, aged 6-79, from 15 different locations across the country. Weight, height, body fat, waist circumference, and blood pressure were measured, and strength, flexibility and aerobic tests were conducted.
What researchers found? Bad news...
Obesity is on the rise and fitness levels are on the decline.
37% of Canadian adults are currently overweight and 24% are obese.
Waist circumference is usually a better indicator of health risk... and it has been increasing since 1981.
In the 20-39 year old group, the % of Canadians with a waist circumference purring them at high health risk (over 87 cm or 34 inches for women and 101 cm or 40 inches) more than quadrupled: from 5% to 21% in men and from 6% to 31% in women!
In the 40- 69 year old group, it more than doubled.
Eek!
Among kids and teenagers, 17% were overweight and 9% obese, and the number of them that have too high waist circumferences tripled in the last 25 years!
Triple Eek!
BMIs were significantly lower, in all age groups, than our American neighbours’, except for teenagers and older adults 60-79 years old (Canadians still had lower BMIs, but the difference wasn’t significant).
Across the board, we’re also less fit than we were 25 years ago.
The craziest finding, in my opinion... and to answer the question above...
37% of women 20-39 could not do one single partial curl-up!!
59% of women aged 40-59 and a whopping 86% aged 60-69 could not do a single partial curl-up!
(Those that were able to do 25 partial curl ups: 31% 20-39 years old; 13% 40-59 years old, and 4% 60-69 years old).
Men:10% of men 20-29, 29% 40-59, and 69% 60-69 could not do a single partial curl up.
(Those that were able to do 25 partial curl ups: 55% of men 20-39 years old; 36% 40-59 years old, and 12% 60-69 years old).
This is not good news.
You try it now... how many partial curl ups can you do??
The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of walking or other moderately vigorous exercise at least five times each week, or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise at least three times each week, along with activities to increase or maintain muscular strength twice a week as well as daily activities like gardening and housework.
Not everybody can tolerate exerise the same way after a heart attack. Talk to your doctor who will probably ask you to do a stress test- your heart is monitored while walking on a treadmill or riding a stationnary bike. Many people participate in a cardiac rehabilitation program after their first heart attack where the heart is monitred during exercise to ensure the intensity is safe.
ricans are also more liberal in their labeling laws, something that's finally getting a bit more scrutiny. The FDA has taken action against General Mills for its misleading claims that Cheerios can reduce "bad" cholesterol levels by 4% in 6 weeks and ward off heart disease and cancers of the colon and stomach. (These claims don't appear on Canadian boxes because we're more strict with our labeling laws).
