Since I began practicing obesity medicine, I have been telling patients that obesity is a consequence of an environmental mismatch; how our bodies are designed to function (eat, sleep, move, connect, etc.) is radically different from how we currently live.
Having excess weight is a common outcome of this mismatch, although it certainly isn’t the only one.
I often use analogies to help others understand complex information.
This one isn’t perfect, but I think it helps us question our perception of having excess weight.
Rather than assuming personal responsibility (a failure to “perform” the complex act of adjusting energy intake and energy storage), it’s helpful to think about it as a natural outcome of living in the world we live in today.
The human body is designed to adjust to the impact of landing after jumping.
If ten people all jumped off the roof of my house, most of us would suffer in some way, although the manifestation would vary. With a history of multiple ankle fractures, I would likely break my ankle. My neighbor would likely destroy the new hip he just had put in. My sister might protect her lower body joints and, in doing so, may suffer a head injury.
My sixteen-year-old son might be able to land the jump just fine. He’s young, athletic, and bendy – and, as a hockey goalie, he has great reflexes.
Assuming my son made the jump without injuries, you could use him as an example, stating that jumping off 10-foot roofs is perfectly safe – and use his experience as ammunition to blame those who suffered injuries, claiming they should know how to “fall better.”
Or, you could question the wisdom of jumping off roofs in the first place – extending our human ability to adapt to impact beyond what we were designed to take.
94% of American adults today have at least one manifestation of metabolic disease. Only 6% of people over age 18 in our country are weathering our current environment without some manifestation of organ dysfunction. At least 73% manifest this dysfunction by having excess weight, but not all of them.
Some maintain a normal weight but develop dysfunction in their ability to metabolize glucose, synthesize and transport cholesterol molecules. or pump blood through the body.
Yet, rather than work on fixing the environment causing our bodies to function abnormally (our food system, environmental toxins, a culture that normalizes/celebrates chronic stress and sleep deprivation), we collectively blame this epidemic of metabolic disease (including excess weight) on the individual. We turn a blind eye to those entities promoting this narrative and profiting from our collective unwellness.
We are not thriving in our current environment.
Many are barely surviving.
It will take a lot of disruption to change the status quo – but it will be worth it!