Many people believe that obesity is due to a lack of willpower. However, the Obesity Medicine Association says that is a myth.
The Association points out that “obesity is a chronic, progressive, relapsing, and treatable disease.” The Association consists of healthcare professionals with expertise in treating people with obesity.
It is devoted to finding effective management. They have found that understanding the underlying physiology has led to effective treatments. Unfortunately, their findings and recommendations have not yet spread sufficiently throughout the medical community.
Obesity is a neuroendocrine disorder involved with energy balance in the body. A center deep in the brain (not the conscious thinking part) acts as a “conductor” for this complex process.
Energy balance relies in part on a group of enzymes and proteins that regulate hunger, feeling full, the need to move more, and the like. Thus, most of our eating behavior is driven by internal signals.
The Association notes that there are effective treatments for this chronic disorder. These include using food as a “medicine” such that education and careful planning results in eating foods that promote health and avoiding ones that do not.
Other elements of treatment include both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, personal support, and, potentially, medications and or surgery.
There are known health risks from obesity. There are 14 cancers that occur more often in obese people. In addition, there are more than 360 obesity-associated conditions such as diabetes, hip and knee arthritis, and others.
Experts in the Association recommend setting a series of small goals rather than one large one. Once a small goal has been met, you move on to the next small goal.
Having support from a professional, improves the ability to reach health and quality of life goals that an obese person may have. Seeking the services of a member of the Obesity Medicine Association can prove to be helpful.
What I have written is based in part on a podcast by Drs. Pennington and Golden from the Association that was published on an AMA site for physicians. It was recorded on March 7, 2023. If there are any errors, they are mine and should not be attributed to the Association.
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
