Updated Thursday, March 7, 2024-16:55

Spain is among the countries with the highest number of people living with obesity in the world.

In recent years, the prevalence of this disease has increased considerably.

In Europe, between 11 and 30%.

And

, in Spain, more than 16%

, according to the latest data from the Global Obesity Observatory.

For Victoria Buiza, patient and president of the Híspalis National Bariatric Association, "once you start being overweight, something that is very normalized, you are late with the measures."

Obesity is a disease that progresses over time.

And it can lead to future problems.

At a health level, the greater severity and chronicity of obesity is usually associated with other comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes,

mental health problems and eating disorders.

In short, a

lower quality of life.

"Cases are not uncommon in which

a problem of overweight or obesity begins during childhood and adolescence

and ultimately leads to an eating disorder," explains Fernando Fernández Aranda, coordinator of the Hospital's Eating Disorders unit. de Bellvitge and co-director of CIBERobn.

The great complaint from patients and associations is that obesity is still an invisible pathology.

"It is necessary to recognize obesity as a chronic and multifactorial disease

," summarizes Buiza.

Frequently, says Fernando Fernández, "the sociocultural aspects of obesity have contributed to minimizing its importance."

This, added to the lack of knowledge about its real impact, the difficulty of its approach and the chronic evolution "have fostered the erroneous idea that obesity was resolved with motivation. Simply by eating less and doing more physical exercise," adds the eating behavior expert. .

That is, this lack of recognition and collective responsibility is what, for both, makes obesity seen as a life choice or irresponsibility of the person who lives with this disease.

This stigma causes people to isolate themselves,

feel inferior and blame themselves.

"People have the mistaken assumption that we lack self-discipline and responsibility," explains the president of the Híspalis National Bariatric Association.

"Ignorance about the multiple causes that affect obesity and this social stigma are responsible for the tendency to blame the patient for being overweight," summarizes Dr. Fernando Fernández.

He remembers that this lack of empathy does not help the person in their process.

Quite the opposite.

Stigma can present itself in various ways and, logically, "

it affects the self-esteem of the person

who lives with obesity and even the way they understand and confront their illness," he considers.

From stigmatized to chronic

"Obesity

is not an aesthetic issue or solely attributable to bad habits, but a serious health problem

," says Dr. Fernando Fernández.

This is one of the main errors at a social level.

Obesity is not a choice, but a complex, progressive disease in which various behavioral, environmental, genetic and metabolic factors intervene.

"We must look beyond the physicality and understand the chronicity of this disease," claims the patient.

For all these reasons, people living with obesity

need the disease to be treated

for what it is: a matter of public health and collective responsibility.

"When 53% of the population is overweight or obese, it is clear that the origin of the problem has a strong social component

," says Victoria Buiza.

The entity she represents seeks to strengthen preventive work.

"Training and accurate information is essential."

Her proposal is to give a voice, precisely, to patients and associations that bring together people living with this disease.

People who, due to stigmas and lack of information, become frustrated and feel misunderstood and defeated.

Consequently, this disease

ends up affecting all areas

of the people who live with it: in

education, the world of work, social or sports

, among others.

To accompany the patient and reverse these situations, it is important to "treat people who live with obesity as what they are: people," says Buiza.

We must, therefore, listen to their needs, understand and put health at the center of attention.

The Híspalis National Bariatric Association calls for a paradigm shift and the personalization of its approach.

Only in this way can the health and lives of these people be improved.

In this sense, from the medical and clinical field, it is considered that one of the key factors

to combat this disease is a multidisciplinary approach.

Dr. Fernández is of the opinion that it is essential to involve different specialists from the field of nutrition and endocrinology, nursing and mental health, as well as social workers.

"As far as possible, it is necessary to also involve professionals from the social, educational and sports sectors. That we not only work when the disease sets in, but also preventively," concludes the co-director of CIBERobn, the Research Center Biomedical Network of the Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition.

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