00:03A lot has changed. I think probably if we think back over the last 30-40 years, the narrative
00:10has always been that obesity is a lifestyle choice. It's an issue of willpower and motivation.
00:15I think most of the treatment is focused on that. We know that there's been a plethora of
00:23fatty diets and lots of health approaches to try and get people to increase their motivation
00:32to take activity and eat less and more. But when you look at the evidence around what impact
00:38that actually has, yes, short-term people can achieve weight loss if that's what we think.
00:42Lose weight, improve their health, which is the important thing here, not just the weight loss.
00:47And it's durable. And I think that's helping to unpack that obesity is not just an individual's
00:52problem. Actually, obesity is a chronic disease process like many other chronic diseases.
00:58And it needs to be seen through the same equity lines as those diseases when it comes to access
01:03to treatment and support for these people living with obesity.
01:07Communication, whether in English or in dialogue. And we might say an obese person or a fat person.
01:15When you write that in print, that also has an impact on the person who is reading it.
01:19And there is this concept of quinary prevention. We have different levels of prevention.
01:25Quinary prevention means that we enjoin ourselves or we take the responsibility upon ourselves to
01:33promote the right information and fight misinformation. Misinformation will not only be scientific.
01:41Yes, although there's been a change in the landscape on how our patients with obesity think about it.
01:49So a couple of years ago, it's not an issue. Patients don't come to the clinic complaining of the weight.
01:57They're complaining of the other diseases like diabetes, although most of us will recognize that there is weight.
02:03But it changes now. So patients go to our clinic thinking of their weight issue.
02:09But the problem is they're merely thinking about the weight.
02:13They're not looking beyond the weight, meaning what is the effect of their weight.
02:18So currently, some patients do look at it on the physical aspect only.
02:23Not realizing that beyond the weight, we're more concerned about the complications brought about by obesity.
02:29But somehow, I think it's a first step. First step that these patients are now coming in.
02:36And I think we just have to tell them that beyond the weight, we're looking more into what will be
02:42the benefit beyond the weight if we address the issue.
02:46Two English words, orizogorous, O-R-Y-Z-O. This comes from orizacetira, which is the botanical name for rice.
02:58So we are orizogorous and we are also orizophilic. We love our rice.
03:03And it's tasty. What can we do? And then it's economical.
03:06Exactly.
03:07I would like to thank the Philippines because around 50 years or so ago, we were facing famine in India.
03:14And then we got the rice varieties, the rice seed from Philippines, from rice research institutes.
03:20And that came to India and then our yield went up maybe double or triple.
03:25So now we are able to feed ourselves and the rest of the world.
03:28We need to pull up our socks. Just a few years ago, we had this epidemic, COVID. We responded. We
03:36have come out of it well. We could have done better.
03:40Having learned from that, we need to move forward. That was a sudden emergency. Obesity is an emergency, but it's
03:46in slow motion.
03:47And that doesn't mean it's not an emergency. So what the healthcare system needs to do, we need to be
03:53more proactive.
03:53We need to integrate obesity care into all our routine work.
03:58So if the lady is going for a pregnancy checkup, we need to talk about obesity.
04:02If the child is going for a well baby checkup, again we need to talk about obesity.
04:07If you are going to get treated for heart disease, kidney disease, we need to talk about obesity.
04:12So that's the first thing, integration.
04:14Society of the country, which means that if you call it a disease of the community or of the society,
04:20it means all of us have a right to treat it, to manage it.
04:25All of us have a responsibility as well to treat it and manage it.
04:28Unfortunately, we don't fulfill our responsibilities in the right way sometimes.
04:32So when it comes to communication, there are times when, whether purposely or just without meaning to,
04:39I might be rude, I might be sarcastic, I might be judgmental with my patient.
04:52Thank you very much.
04:54Thank you very much.
05:15Thank you very much.
05:15Thank you very much.
05:15Thank you very much.
05:15Thank you very much.
Comments