Today's Medsoc Reflective Writing: Obesity

We had medsoc today. And I was writing on my reflective essay and laughing a bit as well about the first 2 paragraphs that i wrote. Ahaha! I think i'm so gonna get screwed by my gp for writing such an essay. Sounds slightly corny - like Mr Ong already. Argh, my merits~~! Anyway, have a read and tell me what you guys think. Haha!

1. List what you consider to be the essential components of a healthy diet. Have your views on diet changed as a result of your reading about diet and overweight? Do you think that being overweight is a medical problem or something that people should deal with themselves?

I believe that one should have a balanced diet – a meal should consist of the 3 important elements within it. However, this is slightly different from the one stipulated by dieticians whereby 55% carbohydrates, 15% proteins and 30% fats are necessary. Does anybody think of eating fats? I believe not. Eating plain oil, butter or margarine sounds gross. The pyramid table of food itself doesn’t even have a section for fats and lipids. So why confuse people with this information, especially when fats are found in most foods anyway. Instead, I think we should replace fats with something useful – fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables have been shown to even boost good cholesterol, which can counteract the effects of bad cholesterol found in fats. 55% carbohydrate is a little debatable. One might be misled into thinking that carbohydrates are good. In fact, this amount might be a little too much. If too much carbohydrates is consumed, they will be converted to fats again, which brings the problem back to square one. Thus, I believe that vegetables and fruits are the key to a healthy diet and helping people lose weight.

Having seen lots of articles and advertisements on diet, my views on diet have not changed much. No doubt, it has definitely affected me in some ways over my choice of foods. However, because I love meat so much, it’s almost a must for me to have them some sort of it every meal. In fact, I have a slight doubt over the food pyramid shown on the slide today. How can eating meat once a week be enough? That’s almost similar to vegetarians. Are carnivores like the tiger more predisposed to CHDs just because it only eats meat? I seriously doubt it. No doubt I do know that eating ‘nice food’ can make us obese and cause detriment to our health. But food is such a good gift from heaven that sometimes I only think about enjoying it rather than being cautious of it. Perhaps this is why obese people find it difficult to change their diets. They do not usually do anything about their diet until something serious happens to them.

Being overweight – who should be responsible for it? This is a question where the answer seems clear, yet it is somewhat debatable. No doubt, obese people have to be responsible for their own diets and lifestyle. A health professional can advise one to eat less and exercise more, but the overall action and outcome depends on the patient themselves. Saying this, Mr A, a patient whom we interviewed today pointed out something noteworthy. It is true that sometimes obese people are born like this. Their genetic make-up makes them more susceptible to obesity. Who wants to be born fat? No one does. Life is indeed unfair, and the fact that this is so, makes it even more depressing for them. They end up going into a vicious cycle and become even more obese as a result. Who should we blame now? Their parents? Or perhaps themselves. While it would still seem that it is partly their fault for lacking the motivation to lose weight, we have to take into account their plight and emotional stress suffered. Thus, while obese people are responsible for their own weight problems, health professionals should give them the advice and motivation needed to aid them.

In fact, I believe that as long as health professionals have a chance in helping these patients, they should do so. More emphasis can definitely be done on areas such as exercise. Many people such as Mr A and Mrs B say that they do not eat much. However, I believe that it would be difficult for them to say that they have put in conscientious effort into exercise. I was thinking: perhaps we can try making them slightly guilty and embarrassed. That way, they might actually start listening to and obeying their doctors.