CHAPTER 1:
HARD FACTS ABOUT WEIGHT GAIN
Failed Interventions
Most books about weight loss start with positive messages, but it is now time for reality. While one may “catch more flies with honey than vinegar”, it is necessary to focus on the widespread failure of many weight loss tactics. Losing a few pounds in the short term may have little to do with health in the long term, unless weight loss is sustained. There is a body of literature that focuses upon the failure of weight loss interventions that is equivalent to, or even greater than, the existing body of credible literature on the benefits of specific weight loss interventions. Records of individuals who have managed to lose weight and sustain their body habitus show that these individuals have used multi-pronged interventions or comprehensive weight loss tactics, other than diet alone. The key to weight control is comprehensive care which is why I have coined the terms “bariotology” and “ obesitology”. The prevalence of excessive body weight or obesity demands an expansion of medical subspecialty practice, in the very challenging circumstance of a global epidemic of “fatness” (amounting to approximately 2 billion people worldwide). There are several brutal truths about weight loss in individuals with significant weight gain. There is not a diet or drug or dietary supplement in the history of medicine that has caused sustained weight control. That said, modern research has shown that comprehensive approaches to excessive weight can result in substantial weight loss, but the pathway of success requires sustained interventions, strong resolution and compliance that may be life long for many individuals (Appendix B). Thus, there is not a quick fix or unitary intervention that will combat the obesity epidemic and the practices of “ obesitology” or “ bariatology” are emerging. This is the dawning of comprehensive care for obesity.
Emerging Epidemics of Obesity and Syndrome X
The reasons for the emerging global epidemic of obesity are not completely understood. Obesity is caused by many factors (multi-factorial) and such factors require close scrutiny and action (multipronged interventions). Excessive calorie intake in the diet, combined with idleness in individuals with a tendency (hereditary or genetic) to weight gain, are factors that seem to operate with clarity. I have referred to modern eating habits as similar to “farmyard science”. This sardonic viewpoint likens
much of modern Western dietary habits to fattening domestic animals with cheap calories and passive restraints (idleness). Victorian physicians warned about the “theory of excess” which continues to be ignored in these days of new found affluence. In a simplistic manner, one sees this factor operating in the alarming increase in weight gain in nations with an emerging middle class, (e.g. India, Middle Eastern Countries, urban locations and the Orient). In order to be obese in Victorian times one had to be economically privileged. In modern times, cheap calorie- dense food tips the balance of weight gain towards the economically deprived.
Along with an expanded waistline are alarming increases in the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome X, prediabetes, Type II diabetes mellitus ( diabesity) and a litany of related problems. The fattening of our children is bringing increasing upset, as we see our progeny develop premature disease and death. In fact, obesity has emerged as the number one preventable cause of death in several industrialized communities. I reiterate that we are on the brink of a new generation of children who may be outlived by their parents. I stress that this is a “tragic thought”.
HARD FACTS ABOUT WEIGHT GAIN
Failed Interventions
Most books about weight loss start with positive messages, but it is now time for reality. While one may “catch more flies with honey than vinegar”, it is necessary to focus on the widespread failure of many weight loss tactics. Losing a few pounds in the short term may have little to do with health in the long term, unless weight loss is sustained. There is a body of literature that focuses upon the failure of weight loss interventions that is equivalent to, or even greater than, the existing body of credible literature on the benefits of specific weight loss interventions. Records of individuals who have managed to lose weight and sustain their body habitus show that these individuals have used multi-pronged interventions or comprehensive weight loss tactics, other than diet alone. The key to weight control is comprehensive care which is why I have coined the terms “bariotology” and “ obesitology”. The prevalence of excessive body weight or obesity demands an expansion of medical subspecialty practice, in the very challenging circumstance of a global epidemic of “fatness” (amounting to approximately 2 billion people worldwide). There are several brutal truths about weight loss in individuals with significant weight gain. There is not a diet or drug or dietary supplement in the history of medicine that has caused sustained weight control. That said, modern research has shown that comprehensive approaches to excessive weight can result in substantial weight loss, but the pathway of success requires sustained interventions, strong resolution and compliance that may be life long for many individuals (Appendix B). Thus, there is not a quick fix or unitary intervention that will combat the obesity epidemic and the practices of “ obesitology” or “ bariatology” are emerging. This is the dawning of comprehensive care for obesity.
Emerging Epidemics of Obesity and Syndrome X
The reasons for the emerging global epidemic of obesity are not completely understood. Obesity is caused by many factors (multi-factorial) and such factors require close scrutiny and action (multipronged interventions). Excessive calorie intake in the diet, combined with idleness in individuals with a tendency (hereditary or genetic) to weight gain, are factors that seem to operate with clarity. I have referred to modern eating habits as similar to “farmyard science”. This sardonic viewpoint likens
much of modern Western dietary habits to fattening domestic animals with cheap calories and passive restraints (idleness). Victorian physicians warned about the “theory of excess” which continues to be ignored in these days of new found affluence. In a simplistic manner, one sees this factor operating in the alarming increase in weight gain in nations with an emerging middle class, (e.g. India, Middle Eastern Countries, urban locations and the Orient). In order to be obese in Victorian times one had to be economically privileged. In modern times, cheap calorie- dense food tips the balance of weight gain towards the economically deprived.
Along with an expanded waistline are alarming increases in the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome X, prediabetes, Type II diabetes mellitus ( diabesity) and a litany of related problems. The fattening of our children is bringing increasing upset, as we see our progeny develop premature disease and death. In fact, obesity has emerged as the number one preventable cause of death in several industrialized communities. I reiterate that we are on the brink of a new generation of children who may be outlived by their parents. I stress that this is a “tragic thought”.
