Herald Sun and The Age Response Article

Below is my response to two articles that appeared in Herald Sun, and the Age on Monday, August 1.

Dr Leon Massage
Founder of the BMI weight loss program
AMA Vic spokesperson on weight and nutrition

Weight loss a war that never ends (Herald Sun, Monday, August 1 AAP)

Obesity campaigns 'waste of cash' - Melbourne Age, Monday, August 1. by Kate Morgan, Health Reporter.

It is a sad day when the weight loss experts announce that it is impossible for the obese to lose weight. What makes the matter even more distressing is the fact that they are WRONG.

Professor of Medicine at Melbourne University, Joseph Proietto, was quoted in an article in the Melbourne Age on Monday by Kate Hagan, the Age health reporter, stating that the obese population was unlikely to benefit from health messages encouraging them to eat healthy foods and to exercise. He went on to say that the answer lay in making gastric banding more widely available.

That is a horrible defeatist thought that is likely to dishearten many obese individuals. And it is one that I totally disagree with it.

My experience, with thousands of overweight and obese patients who I have treated in my clinic, tells me that the opposite is true. Many people can succeed in losing their excess weight, while simultaneously improving their health. And they can keep the weight off - permanently.

Professor Proietto said; "You can't convince someone not to eat who's hungry." Well of course you can't. And nor should you.

In order to lose weight, it is not necessary to be hungry. This terrible stereotype of weight loss being all about pain and self-denial is totally wrong. It is disappointing to hear the experts perpetuating the myth.

The answer to successful weight loss is not new drugs. And it is not more lap-band surgery. Invasive procedures of this type should be a last resort.

The answer lies in empowering patients with the right information and the motivation to enable them to take control of their weight and their health.