Fat City article - Why obesity is not your doctor’s problem

gmallan
gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Incredibly powerful article by Karen Hitchcock an Australian doctor and writer on the obesity epidemic. If this doesn't make you want to lose weight then nothing will.

http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/march/1361848247/karen-hitchcock/fat-city


The choice is in your hands. Are you going to eat it?
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Replies

  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    This was an extremely interesting article. Thank you for posting.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    This was an extremely interesting article. Thank you for posting.

    No worries, I started reading it and just couldn't stop. I hadn't seen it floating around the forums and just had to share
  • misskate1987
    misskate1987 Posts: 54
    Wow, what a great and thought-provoking article.

    Thanks for sharing!
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    Thanks for posting. That blew my mind at least 3 times!
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Thanks, I enjoyed that.

    The Monthly is well worth subscribing to IMO.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
    who else googled "what i ate when i was fat"?

    i should just print this and hang it on my fridge.
  • Qskim
    Qskim Posts: 1,145 Member
    bump
  • recesq
    recesq Posts: 154 Member
    Wow, what an impressive article.
    Thanks for posting.
  • jenslife82
    jenslife82 Posts: 229
    Thank you! It was very interesting.
  • jenslife82
    jenslife82 Posts: 229
    who else googled "what i ate when i was fat"?

    i should just print this and hang it on my fridge.

    I did!
  • goldmay
    goldmay Posts: 258 Member
    Thanks for sharing! A little long but definitely worth reading.

    From the article: "Why not plaster packets of chips and chocolate with full-colour photographs of the rot that grows under an apron of fat, or a gangrenous foot caused by diabetes? ... Any public-health campaign to curb obesity would need to be graphic, to make real the unpleasant consequences of pleasurable excess eating." Sounds like a great idea to me. I just grossed myself out looking at photos of gangrene, clogged arteries, etc. and now I feel (at least temporarily) disgusted by junk food.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    Yes, she has limits as a doctor. Absolutely, social policy would help, and she poo poos it too quickly. Having an honest conversation about the causes of obesity within the public sphere would increase acceptance of policies. If this article furthers that, that's a good thing I guess, but there's a level of aggression in there - and yeah, disgust - that verges on cruelty. I get that it's probably because she's fed up, but still. If she really understood the social determinants of health, she couldn't have written that piece.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Yes, she has limits as a doctor. Absolutely, social policy would help, and she poo poos it too quickly. Having an honest conversation about the causes of obesity within the public sphere would increase acceptance of policies. If this article furthers that, that's a good thing I guess, but there's a level of aggression in there - and yeah, disgust - that verges on cruelty. I get that it's probably because she's fed up, but still. If she really understood the social determinants of health, she couldn't have written that piece.

    Interesting view. I didn't pick up any level of agression and found the honesty of the article quite refreshing. I think what came through for me was the level of frustration and feeling powerlessness with her inability to be able to help these individuals, their inability to help themselves and the society's failure to do anything effective to combat the problem. A Doctor's role in treating obesity-related diseases is such a bandaid solution to what is (in theory only as the article points out) a simple problem, over consumption.
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
    What I got from the article was 'doctors can't fix this. It's up to YOU'.

    Which sounds reasonable enough.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Yes, she has limits as a doctor. Absolutely, social policy would help, and she poo poos it too quickly. Having an honest conversation about the causes of obesity within the public sphere would increase acceptance of policies. If this article furthers that, that's a good thing I guess, but there's a level of aggression in there - and yeah, disgust - that verges on cruelty. I get that it's probably because she's fed up, but still. If she really understood the social determinants of health, she couldn't have written that piece.

    Sounds like you just read the first couple of paragraphs and maybe the last one.

    Read the whole thing.
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
    saving for later. :)
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
    Very thought provoking! I had a discussion with my husband over the key points. It really puts things into perspective and makes you think.
    What I got from the article was 'doctors can't fix this. It's up to YOU'.

    Which sounds reasonable enough.

    I took that from the article too.
  • pwnderosa
    pwnderosa Posts: 280 Member
    In to read tonight :)
  • mrslcoop
    mrslcoop Posts: 317 Member
    What a thought provoking article. Thanks for sharing. I tried to go back to work after reading half, but I couldn't stop.
  • Striving4Fit_MrsOrtiz
    Striving4Fit_MrsOrtiz Posts: 399 Member
    Wow thank u! I definitely needed that wake up call!
  • Striving4Fit_MrsOrtiz
    Striving4Fit_MrsOrtiz Posts: 399 Member
    It makes me want to go running!
  • jacque930
    jacque930 Posts: 122 Member
    Thanks for sharing! A little long but definitely worth reading.

    From the article: "Why not plaster packets of chips and chocolate with full-colour photographs of the rot that grows under an apron of fat, or a gangrenous foot caused by diabetes? ... Any public-health campaign to curb obesity would need to be graphic, to make real the unpleasant consequences of pleasurable excess eating." Sounds like a great idea to me. I just grossed myself out looking at photos of gangrene, clogged arteries, etc. and now I feel (at least temporarily) disgusted by junk food.

    Great Article. Yes a bit long but still had to read it.
    Agree on her statements of - "Any public-health campaign to curb obesity would need to be graphic, to make real the unpleasant consequences of pleasurable excess eating." - I think it is not a bad idea.

    In the US, we need to quit subsidizing so much food that is used to make the Junk Food. I think the subsidies make the junk food cheaper hence why we eat more of it. Subsidize the Healthier choices.. I like the idea of making Junk Food more expensive. Yes, sucks for the companies who make it, but maybe they should consider getting into a different kind of business. We can still enjoy chips, a cookie, or soda but just in moderation.

    Worth the read on this article..
  • JLPaige
    JLPaige Posts: 194
    Thank you for posting this, it was very enlightening :)
  • iulia_maddie
    iulia_maddie Posts: 2,780 Member
    Very interesting read.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
    Thanks for sharing! A little long but definitely worth reading.

    From the article: "Why not plaster packets of chips and chocolate with full-colour photographs of the rot that grows under an apron of fat, or a gangrenous foot caused by diabetes? ... Any public-health campaign to curb obesity would need to be graphic, to make real the unpleasant consequences of pleasurable excess eating." Sounds like a great idea to me. I just grossed myself out looking at photos of gangrene, clogged arteries, etc. and now I feel (at least temporarily) disgusted by junk food.

    Great Article. Yes a bit long but still had to read it.
    Agree on her statements of - "Any public-health campaign to curb obesity would need to be graphic, to make real the unpleasant consequences of pleasurable excess eating." - I think it is not a bad idea.

    In the US, we need to quit subsidizing so much food that is used to make the Junk Food. I think the subsidies make the junk food cheaper hence why we eat more of it. Subsidize the Healthier choices.. I like the idea of making Junk Food more expensive. Yes, sucks for the companies who make it, but maybe they should consider getting into a different kind of business. We can still enjoy chips, a cookie, or soda but just in moderation.

    Worth the read on this article..

    In that case, we need to make a policy change to stop subsidizing things like corn which in turn makes junk food so cheap. Blaming the public for eating cheap junky food when we deliberately make it so is just insane.
  • Shook765
    Shook765 Posts: 117 Member
    bump
  • tinak33
    tinak33 Posts: 9,883 Member
    Yes, she has limits as a doctor. Absolutely, social policy would help, and she poo poos it too quickly. Having an honest conversation about the causes of obesity within the public sphere would increase acceptance of policies. If this article furthers that, that's a good thing I guess, but there's a level of aggression in there - and yeah, disgust - that verges on cruelty. I get that it's probably because she's fed up, but still. If she really understood the social determinants of health, she couldn't have written that piece.

    Interesting view. I didn't pick up any level of agression and found the honesty of the article quite refreshing. I think what came through for me was the level of frustration and feeling powerlessness with her inability to be able to help these individuals, their inability to help themselves and the society's failure to do anything effective to combat the problem. A Doctor's role in treating obesity-related diseases is such a bandaid solution to what is (in theory only as the article points out) a simple problem, over consumption.

    Yeah, I didn't pick up on any aggression either. But I did pick up on that sense of helplessness and frustration. How do you explain something very important to people who don't listen or who don't want to take responsibility for their actions? Especially when it's such a sensitive topic like body weight?
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    This article is so terribly depressing.

    I feel like after years of enjoying food to get to this state I must now give it up and be a hermit. I feel doomed to years, even a lifetime of denial, hunger, and lack of satisfaction.
  • Morgaine_on_the_move
    Morgaine_on_the_move Posts: 228 Member
    I also picked up on some sinister undertones, perhaps some judgement there or condescension, but at the same time, I am really glad I read this article. I am pregnant and so I am thinking about my future child, wondering how I can equip him to make the best health decisions in a society that's not geared toward health.

    I think it will take some blunt, brutal honesty--the kind shown in this article-- to bring about real change.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
    Bump

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