I nearly fell off my chair when I read this. FINALLY a medico saying something remotely sensible in relation to the OMGTEHFATZDEATHHYSTERIA!!!111!!!

One of Canada’s top obesity doctors says it’s time to stop recommending weight loss for everyone who meets official criteria for obesity.Dr. Arya Sharma says being obese doesn’t necessarily doom people to poor health and that weight loss recommendations should be targeted at those most at risk because of medical problems.

Do you see that? Can you see the amazing presence of reason in there? What is the world coming to when a doctor can actually say that TEH FATZ don’t necessarily = DEATH or even TEH UNHEALTHEEZ???

Many people who meet the body mass index criteria for obesity “are really not that sick at all,” says Sharma, chairman for cardiovascular obesity research and management at the University of Alberta and scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network.

Not that sick at all? How about not sick AT ALL? Hmmm… I guess we have to start somewhere.

“It’s not unusual to find someone come into your practice whose BMI is 30 or 32 (technically obese). This might be someone who is physically active, who is eating a good healthy diet. If you followed the guidelines to the letter you would be prescribing obesity treatment when there’s really no reason to do that, because they’re not medically obese.”

Ahhh, so there is a difference between “physically obese” and “medically obese”? Nice to know…

“It’s not enough to just know how big someone is. In order to make medical decisions, you need to know how sick someone is.“

Gee, I hope he shares that insight with a few million of his medico mates. A lot of them could do with that tattooed on their foreheads… or on post it notes all over their office…

His appeal comes as evidence begins to mount that a significant proportion of fat people are metabolically healthy. One in every three people who are obese — and half of those who are overweight — may be resistant to fat-related abnormalities that increase their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to new research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.The concept of “benign obesity” has been known for more than 20 years. Only now are researchers discovering the scope of the phenomenon.

20 years? Gee they kept that one a secret didn’t they? It wasn’t a secret? Well then all those DEATHFATZ doctors perhaps should get their hearing and eyesight checked cos they obviously weren’t listening to their esteemed colleagues!

There is at least a proportion of obese individuals who at this point don’t seem to be at elevated cardiovascular risk.” Not only is their risk fairly minimal, “in some instances it’s better than individuals who are normal weight.“

Hear that fat haters? Some of us fatties may well be HEALTHIER than you are. Suck on that!

He and others believe the concept of “overweight” should be abandoned, “because that implies that you are over the ideal, that there is some magical weight you shouldn’t be over.”

Haven’t we been saying that for a while now?

Unfortunately what is now being suggested is a “five stage system for grading obesity”. Can’t they just let it go? Here they are saying obesity isn’t uniform yada yada yada and yet they still feel the overwhelming need to classify and sort us fatties. LET IT GO ALREADY! But no, then they launch into the “healthy obese vs the unhealthy fat”. For god’s sake people, do we have to make everything into an “us and them” debate? Apparently, yes. Yes, we do.

Sharma’s message is simple. “If you think your excess weight is affecting your health, you’ve got to do something about it,” he says.”If it’s not, keep an eye on it, but don’t rush out to the next weight loss centre.”

Dr Shama better keep his eye out for the WW lawsuit coming his way…