weight loss and Cultures

I am down in Southern Florida today for the launch event of our Ft Lauderdale Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Center. This will be in the offices of Dr. L. Araba Sam, a prominent GYN physician in the area. Dr. Sam is Head of Robotic GYN surgery at a local hospital and mentors other physicians on this procedure. She is a well-known physician who is co-authoring the chapter in our soon-to-be-released weight loss book about African Americans and weight control.

I grew up in a Jewish-culture household where you were made to feel guilty if you didn't eat all of the food placed in front of you by your little Jewish grandmother. At gatherings, bountiful amounts of high-caloric foods were present and EVERYONE ate much more than their hunger levels. From matzoh balls to potato knishes to seven layer cakes, thousands of calories were consummed.

Eating lots of food however is not limited to Jewish families. My Italian patients and friends tell me that a large part of the culture is based around family gatherings where tremendous amounts of foods were cooked and eaten.

But I believe that EVERY heritage and culture shows LOVE and NURTURING to the people of that culture through the use of food. It is almost instinctual to "care" for family via feeding them.

Particularly in the African American community, weight issues are producing a grave prognostic medical situation. With 86% of the female African American community overweight and 68% obese, the ramifications medically for severe co-morbidity development is ominous. The rate of heart disease, diabetes mellitus, breast cancer and other life-threatening medical conditions asociated with being overweight will rise exponentially.

I would ask everyone, regardless of culture, religion, or race to reinvent your family gatherings to include many more healthy choices and try to separate the love you have for your family from thje need to feed into weight problems. When you take a step back and think about it, if you are encouraging high-caloric foods to your overweight relatives, you are actually hurting them, not showing them love.