Almost 7/37 million adult Canadians suffer from obesity. It is linked with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and even cancer.
Sean Wharton, a doctor and obesity expert from the Wharton Medical Clinic in Ontario states, has been studying obesity and treating people suffering from it for over 20 years. He does not believe obesity can be defeated only by exercising and dieting. According to him, obesity takes part in the categories of the progressive, chronic and relapsing diseases which need severe treatment to be healed. According to him, change and healing begin from the mind.
Obesity is recognized as a chronic disease by the Canadian Medical Association, Obesity Canada, and the World Health Organization as well.
Are perceptions start changing from the moment we begin seeing how obesity is, in fact, a chronic disease.
Another chronic condition would be our mental health. Over the last decade, people have started to talk more freely about it, but they also gan to share their opinions the main and most incorrect one being that mental illness is chosen by the “victim.” As a method to manage and treat obesity people need to raise awareness and stop believing that disease is a choice. It would also initiate the elimination of unhealthy weight-control practices and weight stigma.
Obesity is caused by your genes, the environment, medical issues, emotional health and lack of sleep. Many of these cannot be controlled.
Even though it will not be easy to raise awareness in Canada and educate the nation, we should talk about this subject, and the success will be closer and closer. If you are a person suffering from obesity and want to change your life, then you should talk to your physician, choose the best weight for you instead of trying to lose as much weight as possible.
Laura grew up in a small town in northern Quebec. She studied chemistry in college, graduated, and married her husband one month later. They were then blessed with two baby boys within the first four years of marriage. Having babies gave their family a desire to return to the old paths – to nourish their family with traditional, homegrown foods; rid their home of toxic chemicals and petroleum products; and give their boys a chance to know a simple, sustainable way of life. They are currently building a homestead from scratch on two little acres in central Texas. There’s a lot to be done to become somewhat self-sufficient, but they are debt-free and get to spend their days living this simple, good life together with their five young children. Laura is an advocate for people with disabilities.