Addressing obesity in the population

[mtbc]

Several years ago when I first moved to Scotland I registered with a new doctor and as part of the initial checkup they weighed me, noted that I was obese and suggested that diet and exercise were needed. That is the last I heard about it; I remained obese for some years afterward. They haven't weighed me since so I would guess that their files still have me noted as being overweight.

It occurs to me that the government and public discourse seem greatly concerned with the incidence of obesity in the populace but also that I have not really heard much from the NHS, the local council or anybody else about what help might be available. Okay, perhaps it would be tricky for doctors to mail out letters saying, you're dangerously fat, how about a referral to a nutritionist? or whatever but I can imagine that we could be gently informed about simple dietary guidelines and easy, appealing, healthful recipes or subsidized programs at the local sports facilities or walking groups or weight loss support groups (rather than monthly-subscription proprietary plans) or whatever, I don't know. Something, anyway. Are such available locally? I don't know.

For all the official fretting about sugar in drinks and clear food labeling and whatnot I realize that I have seen very little practical advice or assistance pushed to me. Most of what I have noticed is because I already have an interest in diet and have sought it out myself.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

Where I work there's a program for people (with rewards) to encourage them to lose weight. I think this happens at a lot of bigger corporations. I know that people do take advantage of it. It includes nutrition, getting regular checkups, and money towards a monthly gym membership.

[mtbc]

That sounds great. I've heard of a couple of English employers providing things like meditation or yoga classes but less in the way of weight / fitness support. Here I am more likely offered things like walking meditation though that hardly addresses stuff I hear much apparently newsworthy fussing about. Though, one of my English employers in the 90's had a gym and now I work on a university campus we have a gym handy here too I guess but, well, it takes a lot of exercise to much impact weight.

[wpadmirer]

Depends on the exercise. I do twice a week workouts in the boxing gym for an hour, and try to climb no less than once a month.

I don't eat a lot, and I drink three liters of water a day. The water helps cut down on the eating. (grin)

[aldabra]

My GP called me in for an age-related health check and gave me a subsidised gym membership, and a bunch of leaflets about diet and exercise. Probably you could trigger that by asking to see the nurse for a check-up.

I'm suspicious of government-mandated health advice, after the decades of avoid-fat-and-eggs. The diet that worked best for me was Palaeo, with plenty of fat and eggs. Also suspicious of calories, because it ignores the processing that makes the calories more or less bio-available. (Also overweight 8-) )

[mtbc]

Oh, that's interesting, maybe I have such a check coming up if Scotland does it similarly. I guess I noticed the contrast with American health insurance typically including an annual check-up even for younger adults. Though, there they would test my blood pressure on just about every visit about anything.

I suspect that your skepticism is warranted and that your favored diet is indeed rather better for many than official guidelines might indicate. Similarly mst3kmoxie found that what actually much affected their blood glucose tended not to be what the doctors much expected.

[aldabra]

Just had a phone call to say my GP has signed me up for a Healthier You programme. That's triggered by a routine HbA1c blood test. They say they have no current appointments locally, but when they do it's a series of group sessions on nutrition and fitness.

So, there are such things, but they're underfunded and overstretched. There are triggers to get into them, like blood tests, and outreach, like age-related offers of check-ups. Whether you ever come across them probably depends on how unhealthy you are, how clued-up your GP surgery is, and whether you ever go in and see them.