Obesity is a disease caused by various factors, so it must be managed with medical, nutritional and often psychological and psychiatric treatment, said doctor Juan Pablo Méndez Blanco today.
The professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said that in this problem, which until 2016 affected 70% of the population in Mexico, factors such as the age of onset, the degree to which it is found , comorbidities and physical, psychological and social disabilities.
“Therefore, address the problem at the psychological and psychiatric level would lead to having a weight loss greater than 10% each year,” he said.
Méndez Blanco said that, because the diagnosis and treatment of this condition are multifactorial, one should talk about obesity and not just about obesity.
During the conference “Obesity: diseases of simple diagnosis and difficult management”, the also responsible for the Obesity Research Unit of the Faculty of Medicine, said that these diseases are a challenge for public health.
“Having them not only increases the risk of diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, pulmonary embolism, kidney disease and deep vein thrombosis, they are also associated with the onset of several types of cancer,” he said.
The specialist stressed that the cornerstone in the treatment is a change of attitude towards food and life, because the medicines that exist in the market to reduce weight have adverse effects because they lose few kilos and if they are suspended, they gain weight quickly .
“There is no magic pill in the attention of this problem, the dietary intervention is essential, if someone diets reverts a bad energy balance and then begins to improve the weight,” he said.
He pointed out that the best diet should be continuous and well made.
“Patients must understand that reaching the desired weight is not a matter of one or two months, but of years, so reversing obesity will take time,” he concluded.
