An Obesity Expert’s Message
Obesity affects 61% of Canadian adults and 26% of Canadian children and has recently been categorized as a chronic disease by the American Medical Association.
The public, and even healthcare professionals, often think that eating less and moving more is the simple answer to addressing obesity. We now understand that obesity is a complex, chronic disease that requires the same specialized, medical care treatment that other chronic diseases have. This includes identifying and addressing root causes and barriers to weight management.
Dr. Sharma, Professor of Medicine and Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, is touring throughout Canada and recently spoke to a group of approximately 80 people in Leduc. He brings a humorous twist to discussing obesity while addressing key points to understanding the complexities of the disease. Many factors affect weight gain including:
• Nutrition
• Activity level
• Sleep issues (lack of REM sleep, shift work, sleep apnea)
• Untreated mental health conditions (depression, ADHD, anxiety, stress, eating disorders)
• Medications
• Income, access to resources
• Other health conditions (chronic pain, PCOS, chronic disease, etc.)
In his presentation, Dr. Sharma asked the audience to start thinking differently about obesity and weight management. The success of obesity management should be measured by improvements to overall health and well being rather than the amount of weight loss. Success should not only be defined by numbers on a scale. It was stressed that successful obesity management involves addressing all of the factors mentioned above. The first step to success is stopping the weight gain itself.
Leduc Obesity Clinic
The Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network is proud to offer the area’s first weight management clinic. The Leduc Obesity Clinic (LOC) is a locally offered, medically supervised weight management clinic that offers patients, who are willing to make healthy lifestyle changes, a new treatment pathway for obesity management. Dr. Sharma’s thoughts and opinions form the foundation of the LOC. The clinic identifies underlying factors to obesity management and offers evidence-based treatment plans through our interdisciplinary team. The LOC provides patients with regular group medical appointments and classes and regular appointments with team members. The team consists of a medial physician, two registered nurses, two registered dietitians, a registered psychologist and registered pharmacist, an exercise specialist and administrative assistant.
For more information on the Leduc Obesity Clinic and to find
out how to access it, please visit our website at
www.lbdpcn.com
References:
Dr. Sharma
LBD PCN Registered Dietitian Andrea Shackel
LBD PCN Chronic Disease Management Coordinator Christina Vesty
