Regulating weight loss products and do all heavy people need to loose weight

(article from calorielab.com)

There seems to be a lot more debate over the merits of different approaches to obesity and weight loss in Canada right now than there is in America, so we thought we’d check in on our neighbors to the north and some of the varied opinions on weight loss issues that can be found there.
Programs need more regulation

Friend of the Lab Yoni Freedhoff wrote recently on his blog about attending a conference of the Canadian Obesity Network where he talked about the need to set up a system of auditing weight loss programs by which those that are ethical and effective would get some kind of seal of approval from whatever regulatory agency was involved.

The companies that run the programs would apply for the certification and health experts would decide who would get approval, which could then be illustrated through a logo on pamphlets and products.

Freedhoff says medical experts have done a good job of convincing the vast majority of overweight people that they need to try to lose weight, but “we haven’t told people where to go . . . we leave them in that marketplace” full of scams and empty promises that mislead consumers.


While it sounds like a great idea in theory, it seems like a program that could ultimately be ripe for corruption, an easy way for retired bureaucrats and others to line their pockets without necessarily (depending on the rigors of the program) providing a lot of helpful oversight.

Maybe some people shouldn’t lose weight

While Freedhoff says in his talk that nearly all overweight people want to and probably ought to lose weight, another Canadian doctor says pushing weight loss for all people over an arbitrary number isn’t the right approach, either. Dr. Arya Sharma says that being overweight or obese doesn’t guarantee health problems.

People who are technically obese but otherwise healthy and active shouldn’t be the target of doctors and others pushing weight loss, he said, but instead medical professionals should really be seeking to help those who already have medical problems because of their weight or who are at high risk of developing medical issues because of their weight.

Studies have shown that people who are overweight but not obese may live longer than people classified as of normal weight, and that as many as 17 percent of obese people do not have heart problems usually associated with such a high weight.

Of course it’s hard to know if you’re in the category of people who are overweight but generally healthy or overweight and at risk for big health problems. Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby, fat-acceptance bloggers from here in the states, say people who are eating well and exercising but still have a high weight should not be that concerned about being classified as overweight and should instead embrace their body as it is.

They say people shouldn’t even be called overweight because that implies there is a lower ideal weight that you should be at. Instead, they simply use the term fat in the hope of removing some of the stigma from that term.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)