Skip to main content

Chubby doctors

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="172" caption="E.D. Leavitt, Physician, Butte, Mt (Photo credit: Butte-Silver Bow Public Library)"]E.D. Leavitt, Physician, Butte, Mt[/caption]

Is your doctor fat, thin or just right?  HealthDay Reporter Randy Dotinga didn't actually say fat or thin in his Medicine Net report. He called them 'chubby' doctors, and that they could be bad for your health.

How? Yes, I asked the same question. Possible reasons derived from a new study are:

  • a doctor with extra pounds to his weight may be unlikely to advise patients to shed excess weight

  • overweight doctors who responded to a survey say that they are less likely to talk to their patients about weight control

  • even doctors of normal weight aren't prone to talking about  weight loss to their heavy patients


It doesn't seem far from the pot calling the kettle black. Study author Sara Bleich of the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says "you can't look at overweight doctors and say, 'You're the problem.'" Research did find that -

doctors of normal weight were more confident than their overweight counterparts about their ability to counsel obese patients about diet and exercise.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="253" caption="A patient having his blood pressure taken by a physician. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)"]A patient having his blood pressure taken by a...[/caption]

Bleich did this study on doctors' tendency (or the lack of it) to counsel their hefty patients after she went to a dentist with bad teeth. Indeed. How can that dentist take care of his patients' teeth when he can't take care of his own? It is also similar with doctors or parents who smoke. Can they really be authoritative or credible if they advise their patients or children to stop smoking?

 

So could chubby doctors be bad for your health? With the absence of likelihood that they could be of help to a patient's ballooning weight, they could be. Unless if you have no issues with weight; but something just seems off about being treated or examined by an overweight physician, don't you think?Enhanced by Zemanta

Comments

  1. All of the doctors I've been to are normal weight, a few were even underweight.. XD But yes, I agree with your post. It's hard to convince someone to do otherwise when the one counseling is doing that particular thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. you have a good point, how can chubby doctors advice and talk about proper diet and weight if they themselves can't do what they know and learned, hehe

    ReplyDelete
  3. our doctors are all skinny but they look fit and healthy :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I encountered a chubby doctor before but our case was not related to diet and I am not the type of person who keeps on asking different stuff :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. You must be very proud.

    ReplyDelete
  6. First impressions last. You'd definitely wonder what could be wrong if you see your doctor looking not so fit...even in this department, it is best to practice what you preach. :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just learned something new about chubby doctors. It's true that doctors should be healthy because how can they help others be healthy if they are not?

    ReplyDelete
  8. absolutely right. they have to walk the talk.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm not sure, my doctor's a bit overweight and he often scolds me on how i should cut on the food and try to exercise.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The norm is, a preacher should practice what he teaches. Consistency must be observed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

Tacloban . It's where I spent two months of great adventure with college buddies at about the same age as the young adult artists in this video  We Are The World for Philippines ( Cover by Filipino Artsts ) This is the church where I served as piano accompanist for the 1990 summer student choir, and some of the services. According to reports it was filled with dead bodies when this shot was taken. Photo Courtesy: AUP Network on FB On Saturday, November 24th, Central World management (the former WTC Bangkok) lent space for a Haiyan fundraiser without charge. I'd like to commemorate the highlights:   One Voice: Help Haiyan Victims was a serendipity. Organizing events is something I had to pay money to study in grad school. But it was live learning right there that night and observing the process was free. Skywatch : Mission Tacloban The Bangkok Charity Orchestra   reflected tranquility in their music. Poor typhoon victims would benef

Dreaming up a surprise

A lovely week my friends! I give you sunrise from the world's largest religious monument - Angkor Wat and a quiet spot from the chili patches Some days this week were bittersweet. But I'm loving the joys and faves: This goodbye is not forever . Someone dear to me is away for a couple of days. On call for an important politician, he does not know when is he returning to base. Communication to the outside is quite restricted. Then out of the blue he sent word saying he was making use of what internet access was allowed 'along palace perimeter...' and then he was gone. But I'm glad he tried to reach me. Monuments Men . Those art pieces! They took my breath away. The Valley is a friend's short story which he asked me to edit for an alumni newsletter. I was hesitant; warned him I might unwittingly ruin it. My mind went back to that article I wrote 19 years ago. It was too late when I realized how unnecessarily sentimental it sounded; it was already

Mapping

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie Happy Thanksgiving, my bloggity friends! Skywatch : mapping Forensic Accounting Reflections : at the Sweet Secret Cafe Can you tell if a mushroom is edible or poisonous?   Flowery hangout I can tolerate my own cooking ;) November is waving goodbye. That fast, wasn't she? It's been a good month. Now time to wrap up the week - Mapping Forensic Accounting . It was part of a 4-day seminar which I enjoyed doing. With time pressure though my screws splattered in all directions and my mind wandered to  the - Sweet Secret Cafe . Not a bad place to mentally be to make up for the frustration of not having enough time for concept mapping. The photo is an old one; taken when I was physically present and had a sweet time there. Hundred Foot Journey . Three reasons why this film was so much fun to me - Helen Mirren, food, an