“Knowing what to do is easier if we start out understanding how we got there,” said Dr. Sam Wilcox about obesity.
Board certified in both family and obesity medicine, Wilcox gave a presentation on obesity, its causes, and treatment at Wednesday’s “Lunch & Learn” event at Allen County Regional Hospital.
The room was at full capacity for the discussion, which also served as the first “Lunch & Learn” held since pre-COVID pandemic.
Wilcox, on staff at the hospital, explained that obesity is caused not by one specific thing, but perhaps a long list of factors.
“Some factors we may be able to adjust, while others we might not have as much control over,” he said.
Addressing obesity isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. According to Wilcox, the general guidance a lot of people get is to eat less and exercise more. “There are better ways to approach that,” he said.
“Obesity is very widespread,” said Wilcox. “More people are obese or overweight than are normal weight. Actually, more than double.”
Portion sizes are a common factor, he pointed out. He noted that the size of meals have gotten increasingly larger over the years, while the recommended serving size has remained the same. This is especially noticeable when going out to eat at restaurants. “People want to see a bigger plate of food — it feels like more value,” he explained. “It makes people feel like they are getting more bang for their buck.”
Additionally, Wilcox says most people have difficulty putting food in the trash. “When more food is put in front of them, people are just eating more and more,” he said.
As the portions get larger, they far exceed the recommended serving size put forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). People don’t tend to think about serving sizes when they are preparing or ordering food, noted Wilcox. “When portion sizes are increasing everywhere, it just becomes normal,” he said. “We don’t even think about it. It’s just, ‘I ordered a serving and I got a serving. It was huge and I ate it all.’ That’s what we do.”
A GENERAL lack of awareness of how healthy things are is another factor. Wilcox gave an example of when a patient told him she always has a daily coffee.
“I asked her what kind of coffee and she told me it was this extra-large mocha that has around 500 calories,” he said. “For her, that was a third of the calories that she needs for the entire day.”
Nutritional information for fast-food, restaurant, or coffee chains can typically be found online and Wilcox suggests that people check there prior to ordering out.
Taking in extra calories, combined with moving less, is a very common path that leads to obesity. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), half of teens get more than four hours of screen time daily.
“This is outside of school work,” said Wilcox. “In school, they sit all day and every hour they get five minutes to walk to their next class. It’s teaching us to be sedentary and that’s a hard habit to break.”
