Fatati (Italian Obesity Network): “Only 35% obese have a perception of disease”

“9.8% of the population is obese and 35.3% is overweight. In practice, one in two Italians has weight problems. However, according to the Action-Io study, only 35% of obese people have weight problems. real perception of one’s illness. Not only that. From the moment in which he becomes aware of the pathology, to the first specialist visit, 6 years pass. For this reason we must insist that obesity is not a pathology to be underestimated, but a chronic disease , progressive and relapsing. I realize that it is difficult to say, but it is also difficult to accept it by these ‘invisible patients’, because such they are for the National Health Service and for the collective imagination “. This was stated by Giuseppe Fatati, president of Io-Net (Italian Obesity-Network), to Adnkronos Salute. Istat data are alarming: obesity and overweight concern 25 million Italians, 46.1% of the adult population. According to the international study Action-Io, which also involved Italy, in our country 62% of people with obesity try to lose weight with ‘do it yourself’, only 8% turn to the doctor and when they decide to do so takes an average of 6 years before contacting him. “Overweight and obesity require adequate care and attention – emphasizes Fatati – so it is essential that people rely on professionals. For this reason the Italian Obesity Network, the national network whose goal is to coordinate communication and updating initiatives scientific research in the field of nutrition and related diseases, for the benefit of both doctors and people with overweight and obesity problems, has made available to ‘The truth about weight’ “, a new virtual space promoted by Novo Nordisk,” its own system of geolocation that allows you to find reliable information on obesity, as well as view the contacts of the nearest specialist centers, to which people can turn to undertake a real treatment path “.” Unfortunately, in dietetics – emphasizes Fatati – we always look for the miracle. With this campaign, on the other hand, we want to bring everyone, patients and doctors, back to considering obesity as a her own disease that needs to be treated. The patient must understand that he must take care of himself, but the taking in charge of the obese person must also take place by the doctor and the whole NHS. Obesity must be recognized as a chronic disease, for which drug therapy and physical exercise must become services payable by the National Health Service “. ‘The truth about weight’ (www.laveritasulpeso.it) is the new virtual space of Novo Nordisk which, through articles and tools, provides accredited information, but at the same time easy to understand, regarding the causes of overweight and obesity, possible treatments and behaviors to adopt. “During the pandemic – concludes Fatati – people obese have had much more complications and still struggle to recover today. Also, they got sick more. This shows that obesity is not just a risk factor, but a pathology that makes these patients more fragile. The recovery of the person with post-Covid obesity is much longer: just rehabilitation is not enough. But all those interventions (nutritional, adapted physical exercise and drug therapy) are needed to make them recover an acceptable quality of life “.