On the occasion of World Obesity Day, the president of the collective, Anne-Sophie Joly, asks Saturday on franceinfo that doctors be trained “in the initial course” to allow better care.
“We would like the State to say very clearly that obesity is a disease”, declared on franceinfo Saturday March 4 Anne-Sophie Joly, president of the National Collective of Obese Associations, on the occasion of World Day against Obesity, when 47% of French people are overweight. The collective recognizes “advanced”with some “recommendations of the High Authority for Health and an obesity plan”but claim “actions”.
Anne-Sophie Joly also asks that doctors be trained “in initial course” to provide better support. It is also necessary, according to her, to create a legal framework on the discrimination suffered by obese people, particularly in hiring.
franceinfo: Do we still misunderstand obesity today in France?
Anne-Sophie Joly: We understand it too badly, but beyond that, it is scary. People tend to still make shortcuts, even if things change a bit. I have been an activist for 23 years, we have made progress, but we still have the weight of this ignorance, of this lack of information. The most important problem remains that health professionals, whoever they are, medical or paramedical, are not trained in the initial course.
In the midst of the Covid epidemic, you asked for obesity to be recognized as a serious illness. Haven’t heard from you since?
It is a disease recognized by the World Health Organization. So things have changed. We had recommendations from the High Authority for Health, we had an obesity plan, we had the roadmap. That said, we are still lacking in the fact that we would like the State to say very clearly that obesity is a disease. This would allow the population to say that, past a certain threshold of BMI (Body Mass Index), one falls into the obese or morbidly obese category. The words are harsh, violent, but the risk of morbidity is real because there are 19 associated pathologies: increase in cancers, high blood pressure… During the Covid, we paid a very high price. 40% of deaths were us, 47% of resuscitations were us.
Is it complicated when you are obese, to go see your doctor or, in any case, to be taken care of?
The doctor was not trained in an initial course. It’s a huge problem, because he’s very distraught when he sees us coming. It will cure the associated comorbidities, diabetes, arterial hypertension, but it will not cure the source. Hence the creation of specialized obesity centers (CSO) and the fact that training in the initial course is actually required. There is a misunderstanding and a hole in the racket. We greatly hope that the recommendations of the High Authority for Health released last summer on care will be read and above all be applied. We are quite happy, but now we want shares.
Obesity is also a factor of discrimination. In 2016, according to the Defender of Rights, obese women reported discrimination eight times more than others because of their physical appearance. How to fight against this today, in 2023?
Harassment is the most widespread discrimination in the world. That said, it is also the most accepted and tolerated by society. And it hurts excessively to say it, because we can no longer legally make fun of someone’s skin color, on the other hand, on their health problem, we continue to do so and to discriminate. Are we going to make fun of someone who is fighting cancer? I do not think so. Why do we continue and accept to mock or deny access to employment or a decent social life to someone who has not decided to become obese? We don’t get up in the morning saying “great, today I’m going to be obese!” We also have discrimination in schools, children who have dropped out of school, it is unthinkable and it is not human. The fight against discrimination must be part of a legal framework, we can have a bill, we can tell people that they have been discriminated against and that it is punishable.