Weight loss surgery a short cut?



weight loss surgery



One may argue that weight loss surgery is a fast way ticket in weight loss and shouldn’t be recommended to just anyone unless it is really needed (life or death situations).

The decision to go ahead and have Weight Loss Surgery is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Popular diets like Weight Watchers, Slender Wonder, Tony Ferguson, Dukan Diet and even The Atkins diet have shown to work in the short term. However, there is empirical evidence that shows that weight loss surgery is the most effective way of achieving medium to long term results. When compared to Gastric Bypass, Gastric Banding remains the safest surgical option. In, addition, evidence is increasingly showing that surgeons who provide the correct level of post op care will get significantly better results than those who don't. Gastric Banding or Lap Band Surgery, as it is commonly known, is just the first step on the road to recovery. It is therefore strongly recommended by leading obesity surgeons around the world that surgery be combined with a multi-disciplinary approach to weight loss to maximise results.

  



Adopting a healthy life style after the surgery
will bring in long term effect
and achieve objectives

I strongly believe that the surgical approach for each patient should be individualised "One type does not fit all" when it comes to the treatment of obesity. If the obese person fails to achieve weight-loss on their own, then I don’t see a problem in opting for surgery as long as the person is willing to adopt a new healthy life style. The disadvantages of weight-loss surgery are, it relies on the patients cooperation, long-term commitment and self-control.

A day in the mind of an obese person



constant judgement from society



I often ask myself what goes through the mind of an obese person, so I took it upon myself  to do some research. The questions that always seemed to linger in my mind are “How do obese people perceive themselves compared to others?”  , “Have they given up on life?”, “What lead them to let go of their bodies? “ I was always told from a young age that you are your own brand, and how you choose to build your brand and image is entirely up to you; your brand will carry you throughout your life ,first impressions always last and last impression linger the longest.

An anonymous blogger gives us a preview in a day of mind of an obsess person.



First to give you an update…. my new “Weight Watchers” motivation and hype has gone out once again… I do know that I still have to do something… and as I just continue gaining weight, this really is becoming more urgent with every passing day… somehow it still hasn’t hit me yet. Yes, seeing people laugh at me, talking about me behind my back and just giving me “the look” sure makes me want to lose weight, look normal and be a person they only look at because they think I’m “beautiful” but once I’m back with my friends that feeling ebbs too… sometimes I think having friends that accept you is a horrible thing.. Now don’t get me wrong... Obviously it’s the most perfect thing in the world but my brain works like this: If my friends can accept me like this – why can’t everybody else? And do I really need to lose weight to please those people? Every now and then a little depression runs over me… Well sometimes it runs... Sometimes it crawls… and sometimes it stays with me… It must like me more at some points in my life. Instead of letting my emotions do what they wanted (cry) I ate it all up in form of chips, chocolate, pasta, sweets – really anything I could find. Weird thing – I know it doesn’t help… I have done it many times and I only feel worse after. Not just after actually... Sometimes I feel like throwing up and I still continue eating… What in the world is wrong with me? 

This blog certainly shows us the struggles of being overweight or obese and how society perceives obese people, they are clearly marginalised. The obese blogger(and most obese people) knows that they are overweight and needs to address the problem as soon as possible but their will-power dies out very quick, depression kicks in and the cycle of seeking comfort in food gains momentum. This is a sad reality that most obese people go through daily, help from family and friends would be most ideal(exercise,healthy eating plan,motivation etc.) judging the person won’t do them justice as there is already a lot of confusion in their mind.



Has obesity become a norm amoung the African communities?



big is beautiful



To many black women, being overweight is desirable, astounding wouldn’t you say? This belief is now worsened by the idea that being thin can be equated with HIV/ AIDS virus infection. A qualitative study by Mvo et al. (1999) has shown that large body size in the African community in South Africa was perceived to reflect wealth and happiness; it is believed that if a woman is obese or overweight, the body size reflected on a husband’s ability to care for his wife and family. A man with a pot belly is considered wealthy (to a certain extent that they are given the name “Mr BEE”), these incorrect perceptions of body weight are outrageous and have all sorts of troubling implications for rapid increase in weight-related diseases.

All over the world, people go to incredible lengths to match up to the standards of beauty their culture endorses.  When a culture changes, its standards of beauty often change with it.  So to a certain extent, beauty is ‘democratic’, decided by whatever the people happen to prefer. So this brings me to ask the question “has obesity become a norm among the black community?

One of the major challenges with regard to the management and prevention of obesity in South Africa is the cultural variation in the perception of and preference for bigger body sizes, lack of education on obesity is another thing we need to look into among African communities.

Obesity: plays a big role in relationships



Depression and low self-esteem



Obese people may have fewer social and romantic relationships compared to the non-obese (http://www.tree.com/health/obesity-effects.aspx) .When it comes to finding a romantic partner, obesity appears to play a big role, especially for women. According to researchers at the Maricopa Integrated Health System in Phoenix, Arizona (2010), women are slightly more likely to be obese compared to men. Popular concepts of body image and thinness affect women more than men. Obesity self-image is more likely to be negative in women because of society's ideal of the thin woman, an ideal that doesn't have as powerful a male counterpart. For women the standards are much more restrictive. A woman with a wee bit of a round tummy might be judged negatively. There is a bit of a bias there.

It is also common for partners of overweight individuals to no longer find them sexually attractive because of weight gain. These emotions are usually denied or suppressed to prevent hurt and upset. In reality however, these emotions are blocking communication, and although difficult to confront, are only intensifying the problem further.

Address the issue



Constant fighting

Sit down and discuss the issue together, with each partner talking honestly about what you both want, and how you want to achieve it. Partners should remember to be sensitive but honest, at the same time as reassuring them that they will do everything they can to help, and that they are not alone.

Being obese can have a destructive impact on your relationships without you necessarily being aware with it. If you are unhappy about being obese you only have two options – you can either lose weight or learn to accept yourself the way you are. If you continue to allow the issue of weight to dominate your life you will never be happy and your relationships will suffer.

Obesity :wearing down your pocket

Obesity :wearing down your pocket

Not only does obesity affect you heath, it also affects your pocket. In South Africa currently approximately 61% of the population is considered overweight or obese. As a result, more than half of the population not only risk developing chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease (http://www.obesityinamerica.org/understandingObesity/diseases.cfm), but are also potentially placing themselves under severe financial strain due to more frequent medical bills and possible penalties for life insurance or medical aid (http://www.salvagente.co.za/ozone-saunas/obesity-can-cost-you-more-than-your-health/). Obesity also carries a cost in the work place that can result in lost Medicare funds. These costs include both direct and indirect costs, with indirect costs relating to lost wages and productivity lost to illness.

Sometimes one may pay higher life insurance premiums for obesity due to the long term health risks. For the morbidly obese – those with a Body Mass Index (BMI) (http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/) greater than 40 - they may even be declined life insurance or other benefits. Unfortunately, sometimes that wake-up call might come too late if arthritis or heart disease has already established itself.”

Reducing obesity can assist current workers in remaining productive, and reduce diseases related to obesity. For those South Africans suffering from obesity the time to act is now before it causes irreversible damage to one’s health and finances

Comprehending food labels effectively: We are what we eat

It has come to my attention that there is still an alarming rate of South Africans who are illiterate; South Africa has a literacy rate that lays 80% (www.expatcapetown.com/southafrica/litracy-rate). In a developing country, this should not be the case. This poses a huge problem, how are people suppose to comprehend food labels effectively if they can’t read, “we are what we eat”? Colour-coded food labels were proposed to the government but it was declined, the government stated that it is confusing, simplistic and sends the wrong message about healthy choices (www.pushforfoodlables ).

The more practice we get reading food labels, the better we can become in using them as a tool to plan a healthy balance diet. The nutrition facts label is a boxed panel required by the food and drug administration on most packaged food and beverages products. The nutrition facts labels provide detailed information about the nutrient content of the product. The label is intended to help us make healthier choices; it also enables us to compare similar products to see which one might be a healthier choice. You can read the nutrient label to determine the amounts of such nutrients as fat, sodium and fibre in specific products.(www.nutrientfacts:aninteractiveguidetoffodlabels)

Raising an obese nation
The impact of food advertising on obese children



brainwashing !



Advertising directed at children is exploitative (http://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food.aspx#). Children have a remarkable ability to recall content from the ads to which they have been exposed. Product preference has been shown to occur with as little as a single commercial exposure and to strengthen with repeated exposures. Product preferences affect children's product purchase requests and these requests influence parents' purchasing decisions. Up to 5% of boys and a staggering 25% of girls in South Africa are obese or overweight. (http://www.selfmed.co.za/full_story.aspx?nid=13534) 



choices?



Social marketing

Social marketing has been used in the context of community-based obesity prevention programs to promote behaviors such as increased parent–child communication and improved family health. South Africa needs to opt for such marketing as media plays a huge role in our ever so developing country.  Parents serve as important nutrition and physical activity role models. Their behavior fosters child emulation of eating, exercise, and leisure habits, such as media use. Parental modeling can serve as either a risk or protective factor for childhood obesity. To foster beneficial modeling, social marketing can encourage parents to adopt protective behaviors by depicting positive parental role models creating a healthy home environment. Parents who model healthy rather than unhealthy behaviors, such as keeping fruits and vegetables foods in the household instead of junk foods, can lay the foundation for their children to incorporate healthy habits at home and in school and community environments. (http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v18/n1s/fig_tab/oby2009428f1.html#figure-title)