Obesity....what could help??

With the rise in Obesity....and the lack of help obese people get, do you think that all people considered an unhealthy weight should be offered a referral to see a clinical dietitien or nutritionist??

Like smokers are offered help......I think obese people should be offered help.

I know that some of you will say that its their own faults and why should taxpayers pay for their help but they are already costing the NHS a fortune at something like 4.2 billion and likely to more than double by 2050.
Maybe we should all just accept that obesity in part of our society and it needs dealing with properly by health care proffesionals. Not to give out free surgery but to offer proper help in the form of diet and exercise.

I think you are right. I think support groups would be good too where you could get together and talk about how things are going. I lost 4 stone on my own, but other people need guidance, help and support and not everyone has the money for gyms and diet clubs. People who are addicted to food need and deserve the same help as alcoholics and drug users. Many people don't realise that an addiction to eating can, and does, kill. It is about time that society started to treat obesity for what it is: A chronic disease which costs thousands of lives every year and needs to be taken seriously.

There should be a mega-high tax on junk food and sweets for one thing, that should help cover a few NHS bills, but also there ARE help schemes available, just asking your GP for diet and fitness advice is one thing anyone can do. Like with smoking, it's up to the individual to want to change their habits.

well it is a kill so make of that what you will

Yes I agree with you. I do not think surgery is the answer. I think people should take responsibilty for their weight and should do something about it naturally - with diet and exercise. There already is advice and help out there, in the form of GP's.

If you want to lose weight you have to take the first step by yourself and go seek the help. I was nearing 15 stone at Christmas, I now weigh 12 st 5lb, How have i done it? Diet and exercise.

I'm not saying it's easy, I've had to work damn hard to lose this weight, but I did it myself, and most importantly I recognised that I needed to do something about my problem before it was too late. I can't really comprehend how people let themselves get to 30 stone, but it happens.

I think the key is to advertise and encourage obese people to see therir GP who will offer advice, support and even diet and exercise plans. Weight loss surgery is a cop-out for people who are too lazy to take responsibility and get off their bums and do something positive.

Obesity is mostly to do with the individual and no one is to blame apart from themselves. The problem here is most people like to blame everything else, but why? Our country is becoming a country of 'blame everything else except ourselves' and all we do is change perfectly acceptable things to make compromise! Fast food chains for example are perfectly fine, its the individuals choice to eat at them.

I read a report that doctors have now been advised to try and help obese patients who come to them for help more. There are a couple of weight loss pills now available on prescription that were not before and also the nhs is having to be more lenient in who it agrees to perform gastric bands etc on.
I do think that diet has to be taught to children alot more in school too. My eight year old son gets to pick what he wants for school lunch from a variety of different meals and if he only picks chips then they allow that. When i was at school it was one set meal, normally meat and 2 veg and if you didnt eat it then you were left hungry! We usually ate it!

I heard that airports are charging for overweight people now, or something. whether that's true or not, Anyway, I think the government should actually do something about obesity, ban all these fast food restaurants which are influencing society to pig out on all this junk!

Hi,
I think yes.
But do the doctors really know what is happening? I don't think so.
Just like smokers they are addicted because cigars have nicotine, but not all the doctors know that glutamate and aspartame does the same thing in food.
Glutamate makes you have craves and increase your appetite in 40%. If they continue to prescribe diets with food that has glutamate its very hard to any obese to get thin.
I discover that poison that big companies put in food so we get addicted and since then i lost wheight.