According to health experts and authors of new guidelines from Obesity Canada, “there is a strong relationship between stress, health and obesity.” PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES / OZGURDONMAZ
For the first time in 14 years, Obesity Canada has updated its guidelines to call for it to be recognized as a chronic disease and urge healthcare professionals to review their approach to treatment. The 60 or so authors of this publication highlight the role that stress, social inequalities and systemic racism play in obesity among Aboriginal people.
Posted in Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, the paper devotes a full chapter to the treatment of obesity in indigenous peoples. “Obesity among Aboriginal people is deeply affected by pervasive stressors as individuals grapple with significant social barriers and systemic racism,” the paper’s authors write.
These doctors and health specialists also point out in all people, Indigenous or not, “obesity coexists and interacts with other physical and mental health problems, both acute and chronic, but also with social, cultural, environmental and other factors. complex behavioral ‘.
They specify that “certain personal and historical factors may include the effects of settlement and residential schools.”
The burden of co-occurring morbidities is often higher for Indigenous peoples than for the general Canadian population, a result of social and health inequalities perpetuated by the continuing legacy of colonization.
-Extract from “Obesity in Adults: A Guide to Guidelines”
According to the publication, healthcare professionals should consider these factors when it comes to treating Indigenous people with obesity. “These inequities influence food security, for example, due to lower wages that are the result of a lack of accessibility to education and high food costs in urban and remote areas.”
Different visions
The authors of these guidelines advise healthcare professionals to keep in mind cultural differences with Indigenous peoples.
“Western concepts of beneficial health behaviors related to the treatment of obesity, including body size, physical activity, and diet may be at odds with indigenous perspectives,” the experts note.
The authors of these guidelines also stress the importance of building a relationship of trust between health professionals and Aboriginal patients.
“Healing the therapeutic relationship itself is fundamental to motivating and supporting patients with multigenerational trauma to explore the complex relationships with health and behavioral changes in health,” writes the Expert Sixty.
According to the First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study, published in 2019, 66% of First Nations adults in Quebec suffer from obesity, compared to a national average of 25% among non- indigenous.
– With information from Radio-Canada and Valérie Boisclair.
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