‘You need to look at the long-term health risks that being obese brings’

Dr Jeff Foster is a founder of private medical company H3 Health. He says, “I never want to shame anyone into changing their body, but the overwhelming medical evidence suggests that being overweight can lead to a number of serious and potentially lifethreatening conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes and some types of cancer such as breast and bowel.

“People argue that you can be fat and fit, but you need to look at the long-term health risks that being obese brings. You can feel healthy in terms of physical fitness and lifestyle when you’re overweight, but there is no argument that a host of damaging conditions are associated with long-term obesity.

“There’s a lot of denial about the health implications – I find it interesting when you talk to women who don’t want to take HRT because of the risk of breast cancer, and yet they are overweight, which puts them at a far higher risk.

“However, we need to put more thought into how to tackle it. We need to change our attitudes towards obesity and make sure we aren’t derogatory or patronising. The first thing I try to do is to appreciate the situation that a patient is in and offer to help them achieve a healthier weight.

“At our clinic we give patients small and realistic goals. We also do regular blood tests, as hearing that your long-term blood or your cholesterol levels have decreased can be very motivating.

“But while I understand that weight is a complex issue, that doesn’t make the medical information go away. It’s a lot easier to talk about giving up alcohol and smoking, weight seems far more personal. But they’re very similar. You can have a 25 year old who smokes heavily and is seemingly very fit and athletic, but long term their health will usually suffer. And unfortunately it’s the same with obesity – it will catch up with you. We must tackle it, because in the long run it might save a person’s life.”

● Visit H3Health.co.uk for more information on the national medical service specialising in health optimisation and disease prevention for men and women over 40