MANILA, Philippines – Healthcare professionals have long warned of the alarming rise in obesity in the Philippines. 

Data from the 2023 National Nutrition Survey shows that 12.5% of Filipino adolescents (ages 10 to 19) are overweight or obese. Meanwhile, 39.8% of Filipino adults aged 20 to 59 and 32.6% of older Filipino adults aged 60 and above are classified as obese. 

Seeing these numbers, many would likely be quick to think that obesity just stems from the inability to stick to a consistent workout routine, or even the outright refusal to live an active life. Some would even say that it’s a sign of laziness. 

And before long, snide remarks from tactless relatives start pouring in, with unsolicited comments like “Ay, parang tumaba ka! Tama na kain! (Oh, you look like you gained weight! Stop eating!)” becoming the main point of conversation at the family gathering.

But obesity isn’t all just about discipline. It requires more than just a shift in lifestyle, and doctors are clamoring for the public to destigmatize it.

Obesity is more complex than you think 

A panel of Filipino and foreign doctor-researchers at a recent forum on diabetes and obesity emphasized that obesity is a central disease. 

What does that mean? 

According to Luc Van Gaal, a professor of medicine at Antwerp University, the complications of being overweight and obese affect the entire body, making it something that must be treated from the lens of different medical disciplines. 

“There is no single specialist [who] escapes from the problem. It’s evident for cardiologists, it’s evident for endocrinologists, but we know that the dermatologists, the anesthesiologists, the hematologists, all of these specialists have to do with overweight and obesity,” said Van Gaal, who specializes in obesity.

Fat can end up in places it normally shouldn’t belong, and can then drive up the risk of developing other diseases, such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure, among others. For Van Gaal, then, weight is the first thing an individual should pay attention to. 

“Instead of treating the heart and the liver and the diabetes, if you focus on the weight, you will tackle them all at the same time together,” Van Gaal added. 

But losing weight is often easier said than done. One of the most common struggles is keeping the weight off. Sometimes, even when people have done what they could to lose it, after some time passes, they end up regaining it. 

People would sometimes even turn to quick fixes like crash diets and weight loss beverages in an attempt to combat obesity on their own.

Dr. Roger Chen, an Australian endocrinologist, explained that it’s because obesity isn’t something you just treat once for it to go away. 

“We shouldn’t be blaming the patient. It’s not that they’ve lost weight and suddenly, it’s their responsibility [that] it’s gone up, but it’s human nature. It’s our bodies that are driving that weight back up. And I guess the fallout of that is that with all our interventions for weight loss, we have to still manage after that,” Chen said. 

With this, Chen emphasizes that obesity isn’t just a cosmetic condition — it’s a chronic disease.

Changing our approach to treating obesity 

For Dr. Luzviminda Katigbak, president of the Philippine Association for the Study of Overweight and Obesity Inc., there’s a dire need to change our approach to treating obesity.

Katigbak believes that rather than taking a more reactive approach — where we only treat obesity when it’s already there — we should be aggressively focusing on early intervention, long-term maintenance, and treating the disease from all sides. 

“When we talk about long-term management, we would like to maintain not only the weight itself, but also the gains from the changes that we’ve garnered from the early intervention. That also includes the healthy lifestyle, because early on, we don’t just focus on the psychopharmacologic management, but we also inculcate healthy lifestyle practices,” Katigbak explained. 

At the end of the day, Katigbak said the responsibility shouldn’t just lie on the patient, because treating obesity “is everybody’s business.”

“Even family members should be involved, and even the lawmakers in terms of opportunities for parks, where the Filipino people can be more physically active,” she said. 

The way forward 

There’s still much to do to successfully prevent and treat diabetes. 

There’s still a need for people to understand the multifactorial nature of obesity. According to cardiologist Dante Morales, former president of the Philippine Heart Association, for many people suffering from obesity, it often goes beyond what they can immediately control. 

The best way forward, then, is to have the courage to take the first step. Pay a visit to a doctor, who can help you decide where to start with making long-term changes to your lifestyle. 

“You have to really counsel the patients about lifestyle, about their activity, about their food intake, and you have to review them regularly. You’re there for the long road,” Chen said, explaining the doctor’s role in the patient’s journey. – Rappler.com