Treatment for obesity should be focused on “health gain” rather than weight loss, according to a nutritional expert.
New research from the Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (IrSPEN) has said obesity should not be measured in pounds or kilograms, but improvements in quality of life.
While it recommended a 15% weight loss goal to improve obesity-related complications, IrSPEN said it is “difficult” to identify a “single realistic weight loss goal” for all patients.
On Newstalk Breakfast, report author Professor Carel le Roux said obesity treatment is much more than numbers on a scale.
“We want people to live longer, have fewer heart attacks, but also live better and have more functionality,” he said.
“People come to us because they want to be thin, and they want to be happy.
“We now know when we treat the disease, they do not become thin and they do not become happy – but what they do become is healthier and more functional.”
Obesity patients
Prof le Roux said a lot of obesity patients think being able to be active with their family and friends is the most important thing to them.
To achieve that and feel more comfortable in themselves, these patients need to distance themselves from an ideal weight loss.
“We have to shift people away from this idea of weight loss to health gain, especially for functionality,” he said.
“People will continue to take the treatment if they experience functional gains.”
Before starting treatment
The professor also noted that people who want obesity treatment must realise there won’t be a point they can stop treatment.
“Even if people take a really good medication, they have to take it for the rest of their lives,” he said.
“The minute they stop the medication the disease comes back and all the benefits that we had are lost.”
Before starting nutritional diets or taking medication such as Ozempic, people should ask themselves if they can do it for the rest of their lives, according to Prof le Roux.
“If the answer is yes, then you should absolutely do it - if the answer is no, you should think about it," he said.
“You might end up worse off than before you started the treatment.”
IrSPEN and the Irish College of GPs have recommended the HSE should plan to treat obesity like any other chronic disease.
