“9.8% of the population is obese and 35.3% is overweight. In practice, one in two Italians has weight problems. However, according to the Action-Io study, only 35% of obese people have a real perception of their disease. Not only. From the moment he becomes aware of the pathology, to the first specialist visit, 6 years pass. For this reason we must insist that obesity is not a disease to be underestimated, but it is a chronic, progressive and relapsing disease. I realize that it is difficult to say, but it is also difficult to accept it on the part of these ‘invisible patients’, because such they are for the National Health Service and for the collective imagination “. Giuseppe Fatati, president of Io-Net (Italian Obesity-Network).
Istat data are alarming: obesity and overweight affect 25 million Italians, 46.1% of the adult population. According to the international study Action-Io, which also involved Italy, in our country 62% of people with obesity try to lose weight with ‘do it yourself’, only 8% turn to the doctor and when they decide to do so takes an average of 6 years before contacting him.
“Overweight and obesity require adequate care and attention – emphasizes Fatati – so it is essential that people rely on professionals. For this reason the Italian Obesity Network, the national network whose goal is to coordinate communication and updating initiatives scientific research in the field of nutrition and related diseases, for the benefit of both doctors and people with overweight and obesity problems, has made available toThe truth about weight ‘“, a new virtual space promoted by Novo Nordisk,” your own geolocation system that allows you to find reliable information on obesity, as well as view the contacts of the nearest specialist centers, to which people can turn to undertake a real treatment path “.
“Unfortunately, in dietetics – emphasizes Fatati – the miracle is always sought. With this campaign, however, we want to bring everyone, patients and doctors, to consider obesity as a real disease that must be treated. The patient must understand that he must understand that he must take care of himself, but the taking in charge of the obese person must also be done by the doctor and by the whole NHS. Obesity must be recognized as a chronic disease, for which drug therapy and physical exercise must become benefits payable by the National Health Service“.
‘The truth about weight’ (www.laveritasulpeso.it) is the new virtual space of Novo Nordisk which, through articles and tools, provides reliable information, but at the same time easy to understand, on the causes of overweight and obesity, the possible treatments and behaviors to be adopted.
“During the pandemic – concludes Fatati – obese people had far more complications and even today they struggle to recover. Furthermore, they got sick more. This shows that obesity is not just a risk factor, but a pathology that makes these patients more fragile. The recovery of the person with post-Covid obesity is much longer: just rehabilitation is not enough. But all those interventions (nutritional, adapted physical exercise and drug therapy) are needed to make them recover an acceptable quality of life “.