18/08/2025
Thahla Occuhealth had an opportunity of attending a conference on management of obesity as a chronic disease and valuable information was shared by various speakers.
Let’s Talk About Obesity: Moving from Stigma to Science
Obesity is a prevalent,complex,progressive and relapsing chronic disease characterised by excessive body fat that impairs health.
It is a chronic disease that doesn’t just changes bodies but changes lives.
Obesity is associated with multiple complications involving many organs of the body and is a metabolic crisis in South Africa with 1 in 2 adults suffering from the disease in 2023.
Science and not stigma indicates that the disease of obesity(not overeating) causes us to overeat. We are not obese because we eat ,we eat because we are obese
Eating less and moving more is not a treatment for obesity, but making patients healthy through treatment of the disease is essential.
Obesity cannot be cured but controlled.
The future of obesity care will include:
Chronic treatment aimed at health gain and not weight loss.
Recognising the biological basis for the disease.
Needing more and different treatments for the subtypes of the disease.
Not blaming our patients for the disease or if they don’t respond to treatment.
For more information on managing obesity,contact your nearest healthcare provider.
