Weight issues, body image, self-esteem and health: how are we

Weight issues, body image, self-esteem and health: how are we managing these?
Celebrating 20 years of PASOO
Elizabeth Paz-Pacheco MD, FPCP, FPSEM
Past President, PASOO
Chief, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
UP-Philippine General Hospital
Endocrinologist, The Medical City
Many of us are not content with our weight. Many of us wish we were leaner, a smaller number wish they were heavier.
Where did the accepted norm come from? Insurance statistics compiled through the years specified a healthy weight
above and below which individuals had a higher chance of dying. Certainly weight is not the only determinant; instead,
extremes of weight accompanied states of illness.
As an endocrinologist, I see patients who struggle with weight issues, striving each day to cut down on food intake
despite overwhelming voracious appetites. They literally drag their bodies to go to the gym or even for a short walk to at
least see the weighing scales tipping to their favor. Through all these, they have to contend with body image and selfesteem. One patient laments: "There are a million and one things to talk about, but why after not seeing an
acquaintance for years, the first statement is 'Hoy, tumaba ka' (Hey, you gained weight!) It is not easy for the patient,
yet people around him are pre-occupied with it, as if he wasn’t doing anything about it. He does and tries but it isn’t
easy! And when the overweight issue translates to poor body image and lower self-esteem, then the problem becomes
more complicated. When one becomes less confident, one becomes less enthusiastic and eventually less productive.
So, as a community, how should we behave? We, particularly the medical community, should try to avoid attaching a
stigma to individuals who are overweight and obese. It is true that we need to increase awareness about a healthy
weight and do best efforts for the environment to promote this. As we do so, we should encourage the concept of body
weight as a state of nutrition, as our body requires a good weight to sustain life. Not to be too thin, almost cachectic
(almost like bones), as glamorous models project the ideal to be, but the right weight that keeps us well nourished,
healthy and strong. We should remember that health is a public concern and that concerted efforts from the food
industry, advertising, schools, local and national government and others are essential to help each Filipino achieve a
reasonable weight.
The Lord above gave us a bounty of food to partake and bodies that are able to move. We need to respect food and
enjoy it in moderation to promote health coupled with regular physical activity. We should despise the wrong notions of
body images that do not favor a healthy life. That is His intention for us.
Through God’s graces, congratulations to 20 years of the Philippine Association of Overweight and Obesity (PASOO) with
advocacy for health awareness and research!
Organized March 9, 1994 by our founding leaders, it has since focused on obesity control through annual conventions,
workshops and public awareness campaigns in schools and industry, throughout the country. It is a resource for
research through its registry, in collaboration with national and institutional groups, to better understand the specific
needs of the Filipino, encompassing the spectrum of under-and over-nutrition
A lot more needs to be done, and we welcome interested parties to partner in the vision of an obesity risk-free nation.