First
please go read this article.
As
a person who used to weigh 330 lbs, and today under half that, and as a registered nurs, I feel that I have a unique
perspective on this..
I admire the
doctor's honesty in exploring this difficult topic.... and it is a
multi-faceted one.
I remember only
too well my former loathing to go to a doctor, when many were openly hostile.
Overeating in the extremely obese is nearly always an addiction. [A person who
finds moving difficult due to a back injury might be slightly overweight, but
600 lbs is an amount that indicates that something else is in the equation.] As
with any addiction, the food is satisfying some need that to the addicted
person (temporarily) is more important than the current disadvantages.(The
future disadvantages he chooses to try and forget.). Even when they reach a
point where they WANT to change, because the physical/emotional/social effects
outweighs the "advantages", the overweight person is often at a loss
of HOW to accomplish what appears to be a nigh-impossible task.
However, I can empathize
with the frustration of the medical staff. When a patient is so large that
doing even the most elemental procedures becomes difficult, an overworked,
understaffed hospital staff can easily feel thwarted. It is very frustrating to
try and help someone when they appear unwilling to help themselves, and the
situation appears hopeless.
The staff,
however, should not make snide or insulting remarks. Not only are these remarks
hurtful... they also are not helpful. A bit of understanding of the complexity
and difficulty of the overweight person is in order. Because weight loss is not
only about eating less. It is about how to MANAGE to eat less.
The overweight patient needs to learn that
treating his addiction is possible- and up to HIM. (And BTW, not as hard as you
fear!) The rest of the world, while they can try to help, can not cure all the
woes he has, he needs to take responsibility for himself. If he is not willing
to make the effort, he cannot expect that others will always "save"
them!
As a society, we all need to show
compassion, while simultaneously promoting an environment more conducive to
healthy living. And facilitation of practical, useful interventions of food
addictions needs to be a priority in the health care system.