Oldham obesity should be treated like an illness - health expert

People in Oldham are being encouraged to keep an eye on their waistline by a national health campaigner.

Dr Zahid Chauhan believes there should be a strict sugar tax and more counselling to help self-esteem, as it’s revealed roughly 70 per cent of people in the town are carrying too much weight.

He’s now backing calls for obesity to be viewed as an illness and not a choice.

Dr Chauhan wants more money to be invested into tackling the mental health issues that make a big contribution to people piling on the pounds.

He says it’s time to acknowledge that those who have excess fat often can’t help it.

“While we often highlight obesity as a cause of heart problems, diabetes and strokes, we should not always point an accusing finger at those who are overweight,” Dr Chauhan says.

He adds: “Environment, genetic disposition and eating disorders can make it very difficult for people to shift fat and stay in shape.

“The fact that they are bombarded by poorly regulated advertising and have access to so much junk food doesn't help either.”

Of particular concern to Dr Chauhan, is a “fattist” attitude that he says, swells a problem that has been equated to terrorism, so dangerous it has become.

“I am yet to meet the patient who has lost weight because someone shouted at or mocked them.

“And for people with crushingly low self-worth, being highlighted and ridiculed for being overweight actually makes them retreat even more and perhaps comfort eat.

“What we need is a mature approach to obesity and a healthcare service that recognises it as an illness.”

Dr Chauhan wants to see a national obesity strategy that includes:

-          A stringent sugar tax with revenues raised used to fund the creation of sporting facilities and activities

-          Sanctions placed on those who sell junk food at cheap prices and incentives to retailers or charities who distribute nutritious fodder

-          Employers being encouraged to let workers take a proper lunch break and where possible, offer cheaper healthy options in their canteen 

-          A recognition that obesity is an illness that should be treated by medics with proper nutrition and exercise plans - and not solved by crash diets.

Dr Chauhan has introduced a raft of obesity reducing policies in his role as a local councillor in Oldham.

Recently, he passed a resolution to ensure neighbourhoods were healthy zones by withholding licenses to businesses that sold cheap junk food close to schools.

He continues: “I firmly believe that people can play a role in caring for themselves thus reducing the burden on our already stretched NHS resources.”

“But so many of the patients I see who are overweight have other associated problems, from anxiety to poverty.

“Instead of calling people names and challenging them to become less lazy we should be tackling the conditions and mental health problems that are making fat such a problem in this land.