Bakersfield.com

 I am writing in response to this weekend's articles about obesity and teens.  They were excellently written with great attention given to the daily realities of obesity.  I am a Registered Dietitian, so I know the textbooks answers.  I am also a recovered anorexic who was raised in a family who has struggled with obesity for years so I can empathize with the people in the story.   I now have two children of my own; so perhaps that qualifies me the most to discuss childhood health issues.  I do feel though that the series left loose ends.

Brooke is a beautiful girl, as are the rest of the teens that were profiled.  Their self-confidence though is likely not commonplace among obese teens.  A few comments that caught my attention:  In Saturday’s article, Brooke mentions that she doesn’t know why she can’t lose weight when she eats about the same as her friends and family members.  Then Sunday’s article has Brooke saying that she doesn’t think she would be able to give up snacks like her friend did.  It sounds like she may be in denial about how much she is actually eating.  My twin sister always made similar comments; and in her case I knew it was true.  We always ate the same things and the same amounts and I was always thinner.  She finally came to the conclusion that to have a healthy weight she had to eat LESS and exercise MORE than other people.  Every person is different and has a different metabolism; comparing oneself to other people is never a good idea.

While bariatric surgery is definitely an option, it is not a cure-all.  Someone close to me had the surgery 3 years ago, and two days after the surgery she saw a pizza commercial and started dreaming for the day she could eat pizza again.  As she put it, “Just because I have a smaller stomach doesn’t mean the psychological reasons for overeating are gone.”  She quickly regained the weight, then ended up with multiple health problems related to the malnutrition caused by the surgery.  I have a suspicion that her health would have been better served staying obese in the first place rather than suffering the metabolic consequences of a GI resection.  On the other hand, I know other people who have had the surgery and done marvelously afterwards.  The underlying reasons for why a person is obese need to be addressed before the decision is made for a surgery.

The beautiful girl who is considered “at risk of overweight” and is engaging in unhealthy eating patterns such as fasting for days at a time scares me.  If only we could all see food as a tool for nourishing the body as God intended it rather than as something we think about and talk about constantly, then it wouldn’t have such a central place in our society and perhaps obesity wouldn’t be so rampant.  Social events revolve around food, people plan their days around food, companies make billions of dollars off food, authors make millions of dollars off diet books, pharmacies make billions of dollars off medications to stop us from eating food…you get the point. 

Each individual person needs to find the motivation from within to maintain a healthy weight; whether for looks or health or whatever.  It needs to be viewed as life change; not a diet or an exercise program or the latest fad.  The steps that are being taken in the school system are essential, but like Sharon Briel said, it needs to start in the home.   There is a wealth of information out there, which can be overwhelming and conflicting.  The best place to start is with a Registered Dietitian to help review the basics.   Weight management can be boiled down to calories in versus calories out.  3500 calories = 1 pound.  Reducing your intake by 500 calories each day or increasing your exercise by 250 calories per day and decreasing your intake by 250 calories per day can help to burn 1 pound each week, which is a safe and gradual weight loss.  But remember, for best health, the quality of food that you eat is just as important as the quantity.