Neighbor News
Event - Debunking the Myths of Obesity
Weight loss, dieting, obesity, myths, diet, event Northwest Community Healthcare, NCH
The Comprehensive Weight Management Program at Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) is offering one-hour-long programs on obesity and weight control, twice each month starting in August. Topics and dates will be posted at nch.org in advance each month.
“Debunking the Myths of Obesity” will be held August 15, and “Managing Cues and Triggers - What Makes Us Want to Eat,” will be held August 22. Both programs take place at 6 p.m. in the NCH Comprehensive Weight Management Center at 1410 N. Arlington Heights Road, Suite 200, in Arlington Heights. Cost is $35 per session.
“The link between obesity and the increased risk of developing type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, gallbladder disorders, some cancers and osteoarthritis is well documented,” says Monika Cohen, M.D., Medical Director of the NCH Comprehensive Weight Management Program.
“What has both the scientific and medical communities so concerned is obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, particularly in Western nations, including the United States,” Dr. Cohen adds.
Writing on behalf of the World Obesity Federation, authors of a paper published in May in Obesity Reviewscalled obesity a “chronic relapsing disease process” and blamed its cause on “an abundance of food [high in energy density such as fat], low physical activity and several other environmental factors… .” The researchers noted, “Obesity fits the epidemiological model of a disease process, except that the toxic or pathological agent is food rather than a microbe.”
In March, researchers from the Centre for Digestive Diseases at the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, also reported study results showing overweight males were 50 percent more likely than those of normal weight to develop liver disease later in life.
Dr. Cohen adds, “In a time when there are increasing studies helping us start to unravel the complex nature of obesity, there are many myths and misconceptions about obesity and weight loss.”
Dr. Cohen, who will be leading the August 15 session, encourages anyone who is struggling with a weight issue to consider attending one or both programs. The August 22 session will be led by Kimberly Hammon, MS, RD, LDN, CDE, a registered dietitian.
Pre-registration is required to attend either program. To register or obtain more information, call 847-618-1640.
