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Shirley, a HER correspondent for EmpowHER, interviews Dr. Peter Vash at the 2010 Women's Conference about the perception of beauty compared to a healthy weight.
Shirley:
Hi, my name is Shirley Husar and I am the HER correspondent with Dr. Vash. Dr. Vash…
Dr. Peter Vash:
Nice to meet you.
Shirley:
. . . nice to meet you. Oh my god, it was a great interview. I love what had to say about full-figured women, you know, that word obesity is such an ugly word and for a full figured woman it kind of can be a little bit offensive. How do you deal with that when you see a woman who says, “Well I am luscious and gorgeous,” but you go, “You are full-figured and unhealthy”?
Dr. Peter Vash:
Beauty is in the eyes of the preceptor, okay, in the eyes of the beholder. If you are a woman who is comfortable with your weight, that’s fine, but let’s make one thing perfectly clear, your perception of beauty, how you look has nothing to do with your health benefits and how you feel, how your body is reacting to your weight.
Many women feel very comfortable, very beautiful but they are not healthy. They have high cholesterol, high sugar, high blood pressure…
Shirley:
Does that have to do with culture because you think about African-American, Samoan, some Latino women, I mean we are just full-figured women from every aspect.
Dr. Peter Vash:
You asked a very good question. There was a study years ago. Black men perceive that their women should be heavier.
Shirley:
That’s in Africa, not so much in America. That’s an African notion.
Dr. Peter Vash:
Afro-America.
Shirley:
Okay, yes.
Dr. Peter Vash:
White men perceive that they want their women thinner. So there is a cultural aspect to that. Two, African-American women have higher rates of hypertension and diabetes, so there are some genetic issues there that make full-figured African-American women unhealthier with hypertension and diabetes. So it’s not only just the weight, it’s how the genetics of that weight affects them.
Shirley:
What is the answer to that though?
Dr. Peter Vash:
Well the answer really is to be empowered of your own health; watch your blood sugar, watch your cholesterol, watch your triglycerides. Now, many women say, “Well doc, don’t get upset, my blood pressure is fine; my cholesterol is fine; my sugar is fine, don’t get upset,” but then I say, “Wait a minute, what about your back, your hips and your knees?”
So the weight is associated with 35 comorbid conditions, not just…
Shirley:
But in those comorbid conditions a lot of women really don’t connect technically or medically with those terms. What basic techniques or ideas can you give that they can incorporate right now in their life?
Dr. Peter Vash:
There are couple of reasons why they need to focus on that, not to have the diabetes, causes you to lose your sight and kidney function, not to have the high blood pressure for a stroke or heart attack, not to have the cholesterol which clogs the arteries, causes premature cognitive decline.
Shirley:
And I would agree with that. So what do they do? What can they do right now? What’s the ‘now’ moment?
Dr. Peter Vash:
One, they can begin to look at their weight. If they have a Body Mass Index higher they can say, “That’s a guide. I’ll lower it.” They can make sure they are having less of the refined carbohydrates.
Shirley:
Are those the scales that you can get that kind of tell you different types of…
Dr. Peter Vash:
It’s a guide. It’s a guide. We don’t have to be purists but let’s use it as a guide. If you are 350 pounds if you can lose 50 pounds, that’s great. You don’t have to get down to 150 pounds. Lose some weight.
Shirley:
Okay, just a little bit.
Dr. Peter Vash:
What you are comfortable with. I was going to say, many people think that the BMI is the end-all. It’s not. It’s only a guide. You want to make sure your blood studies are good.
Shirley:
Does genetics have something to do with it, the fact that certain family members, I mean, because, you know, certain families you will see them obese but they will live much longer than someone that’s very thin. How do you determine age of life-term, of living?
Dr. Peter Vash:
Sometimes they live a lot longer but they will not live a lot happier.
Shirley:
Now you are making assumptions. How do you know that because a full-figured person boy, they is some happy people.
Dr. Peter Vash:
Well, I make that assumption from many years of clinical practice. When I see people come in after five or ten years limping, on a cane, having to go for knee surgery and back surgery. Their levels of triglycerides are fine but their knees go, their backs go…
Shirley:
But you would agree that being athletic and being physically engaged in some kind of sport would be very important.
Dr. Peter Vash:
Very important.
Shirley:
Well thank you. You have been wonderful.
Dr. Peter Vash:
I hope that helps.
Shirley:
Yeah, it does.
Dr. Peter Vash:
Okay, my pleasure.
Shirley:
Bye, bye.
Visit Dr. Vash's EmpowHER Profile
Add a Comment1 Comments
I love this interview.
October 10, 2013 - 9:41amThis Comment