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Dr. Thomson shares advice for women who are embarrassed to discuss weight gain with their doctors.
Dr. Thomson:
Many women are not going to bring it up with their physician, and in fact, they may go in there and go, “Oh, I hope he doesn’t notice,” and so what happens is it becomes kind of this, you know, no one will talk about, let’s not discuss it; it’s not politically or socially correct, but the message the woman gets then is that it’s not a problem. You don’t need to worry about this.
You know, I remember going through a similar situation with a physician who basically said, “Well, we are working on this, let’s not worry about that.” But in my mind, we need physicians front and center. The other thing is if the physician themselves has a weight problem, they are less likely to bring up the issue with women. They don’t want to hold them accountable for something that they are challenged by as well, and, you know, all I can say is we need to get over this barrier because, again, losing five or ten pounds is much more achievable than losing 50 or 60.
Although I should say I have plenty of women that I have worked with, that we have worked with in clinical trials, who have taken off that kind of weight, given the right support. Not one slip of paper, one visit to a dietician–that’s not going to do it, long-term support to keep it going.
About Dr. Thomson, Ph.D., R.D.:
Dr. Cynthia Thomson, Ph.D., R.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Arizona. She is a registered dietitian with a doctoral degree in nutritional sciences. She has been conducting cancer research since 1994. Dr. Thomson was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2003.
Visit Dr. Thomson at The University of Arizona