QUEENSLAND’S top health bodies have admitted there is a problem with overweight and obese doctors treating patients for obesity.
Australian Medical Association state president Shaun Rudd and Queensland Clinical Senate chairman David Rosengren told The Courier-Mail that patients tackling weight problems who were dissatisfied with their care should find a health practitioner who made them feel more motivated.
“I fully understand that it is difficult to take advice from a health practitioner who is obviously struggling to deal with their own obesity,” Dr Rudd said.
In Queensland, 60 per cent of adults are classified as overweight or obese.
Therefore, Dr Rosengren said, it was inevitable that health workers would be included in that data.
“The problem with doctors being obese is that it is a very visual condition,” he said.
“If a patient was seeking out advice on something like smoking, they would have no idea if the doctor was a smoker and it would not be an issue.
“But anyone who is not happy with the care they receive should look elsewhere, as long as a doctor’s obesity is not simply an excuse.”
The Queensland Clinical Senate advises the Department of Health and Minister for Health on clinical issues.
Queensland is braced for a flood of lifestyle-related health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and pregnancy complications.
If trends continue, Queensland Health estimates that, within five years, 78 per cent of the state’s adult population will be outside the healthy weight range.
Dr Rosengren said it was time for the health system to lead by example.
“Workers in the health system need to step up and be role models for the community,” he said.
A blog by a frustrated health boss on a fitness website lays bare the poor message being sent by medical professionals.
The author wrote of a meeting with an obese senior clinical psychologist with two decades’ experience treating patients who were overweight.
“When I got back to my office, I opened my emails and saw the stroke clinic had celebrated their birthday with a cake,” the author wrote.
“You’d think a healthcare centre or hospital would be as safe as houses where junk food couldn’t infiltrate.”