Obesity is a bio-psycho-social disease. This means that a person who has obesity suffers physically, emotionally and socially. It also means obesity is a result of biological, psychological and social factors. This is a special, two-part episode of the podcast because it contains critical information provided by a group of weight loss physicians who studied the backgrounds of thousands of patients with obesity who participated in their research program. The research was conducted over many years and included thousands of patients so the results clearly represent a large sample of people. What these doctors courageously and directly state is that obesity is very often so much more than a medical disease. Physicians and weight loss programs focus primarily on changing a person’s diet and they are missing the fact that scores of people with obesity have histories of neglect and abuse. The patients informed the doctors that weight gain and weight regain is often their solution to feeling better and hiding their emotions and “secrets” from painful, emotional circumstances from their lives. Listen to the incredibly important information that, in my opinion, needs to be heard by all bariatric patients and all healthcare workers. Please share this with others.

Article referenced throughout this podcast: Obesity: Problem, Solution, or Both

Citation for article: Felitti, V. J., Jakstis, K., Pepper, V., & Ray, A. (2010). Obesity: problem, solution, or both?. The Permanente journal, 14(1), 24–30. https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/09-107