By Rich Weil, M.Ed., CDE
Transformation Weight Control
www.transformationweightcontrol.com
I was reading an article in the New York Times in 2023 about the problems and downside of having to take a weight loss medication for life. My immediate thought was, “How much longer must we endure the never-ending onslaught of negative weight-loss medication headlines? They are insufferable.” So, I wrote a letter to the NYT. They never published it, but here it is.
To The Editor:
RE: article about having to take weight loss medications for life. It’s time we acknowledge and understand that having obesity is a chronic disease, and for many, a physical and/or psychological addiction to food, that requires chronic treatment. That may mean medication for life. But when you consider that tens of millions of individuals with obesity suffer the indignity of body shaming, self-loathing, depression, loss of self-esteem, social isolation, workplace and pretty much bias everywhere, inability to get up off the toilet or out of a sofa, bend over and tie one’s shoes, shop at a brick and mortar store without judgment from the salesperson or find a department with clothes that fit, chairs in your doctor’s office that you can’t fit in and gowns and blood pressure cuffs that don’t fit, walking up or down a flight of stairs and having to wait 5 minutes before you catch your breath, difficulty getting in or out of a car, looking at a restaurant menu without fearing that all eyes are on you, then a lifetime of a medication that you may only need to take once a week, and that will finally solve the problems, seems reasonable, and you should be able to live without fear of what I call “medication bias” or “medication shaming”.
I don’t know a single soul, of the tens of thousands of patients and clients who I have treated over all my years, who woke up one day and thought what a great idea it would be to have obesity. In a study by Schwartz et al in the journal Obesity in 2006, 50% of adults polled in a survey said they would give up a year of their life rather than be fat (their word, not mine). Fifteen to 30% said they would rather walk away from their marriage, give up the possibility of having children, be depressed, or become alcoholic rather than have obesity. Five percent said they would rather lose a limb, while 4% said they would rather be blind.
And what about all the people who take other medications for life? Blood pressure, heart arrythmias, asthma, depression, diabetes, and so many other chronic diseases where an individual must take a medication every day for life to manage their disease. I don’t hear anyone shaming someone for having to take a blood pressure pill for life, why do we shame individuals who take a weight loss medication for life? Having obesity is a disease like all the others. The shaming that takes place against taking a weight loss medication for life stems from a societal bias against anyone who has obesity. People think, “why do they need to take a weight loss medication, just eat less and exercise more”, or “where’s their willpower and self-discipline?”
Having obesity is due to genetics (anywhere from 25% to 70%), epigenetics, dysregulation of appetite regulation, hormonal problems, brain biology that negatively affects the food reward system, environmental factors, food supply, societal bias and discrimination, and so many more reasons.
It’s time that we finally we gave up the obesity bias, acknowledge obesity as a disease, and addiction to food for many, out of the biological control of individuals, and celebrate that finally, after all these years of suffering, there is relief for individuals who have struggled all their adult life, or all of their life, with the challenge of having obesity, losing weight, and keeping it off. Finally.
© Richard Weil, M.Ed., CDE 2024 All rights reserved.
