To expect fat nurses to have some insight?.

[Vikingess]

Just had a routine health check today at my GP surgery. Two nurses - both considerably overweight - dispensing advice on diet. I
am not overweight -AIBU to expect health professionals to demonstrate the the standards they recommended or at least admit to falling short.

I am really grateful to my surgeon, who gave me some brilliant weight/diet/cardio advice pre surgery, that I am 100% certain helped with my recovery. Not only did he remove my endo, 20 fibroids and my womb but he also made me feel better afterwards by giving me advice about how I could improve my recovery. He was giving me advice for me, he wasn't putting himself and himself in the picture of what was best for me. He was doing his job. HCP's bodies and the shape of them have nothing to do with your health, which is their focus when they are talking to and about you.

Nail on the head there!

For anyone giving out advice, they have to actually be seen to believe the advice and be confident, etc. Someone clearly obese trying to pass on credible advice on weight loss is not going to have the right impact at all. It's all about believability.

Unfortunately, some medical "advice" re weight loss is flawed, even moreso their official "advice" re diabetic control and other dietary issues.

Like automatically telling a diabetic patient to eat fewer mangos which is common (as a T2 diabetic myself having seen numerous GPs, dieticians and nurses over 25 years) as the professionals just parrot off the "information" within their leaflets and tend to add nothing of further use. Realistically, how many people regularly eat mangos??

Nurses are grabbing snacks from vending machines rather than having proper meals larget nurses know they should lose weight. They are informing their patients about healthy lifestyles which is their job

I'm guessing the nurse feels just as uncomfortable giving the advice as we do hearing it.

Humans have always experienced stress, but obesity has only recently become a large scale problem.

As I said above food doesn’t actually relieve stress so it’s not a coping mechanism, or at least not an effective one.

Stress seems to trigger addiction, compulsive, bingeing patterns, which are not coping mechanisms - rather the opposite - a symptom of not coping.

YABU

@westernlights do you have a thyroid problem? Because it's hellish trying to get medication for it
My TSH was "fine" apparently at 6. I was only diagnosed when I accidentally ended up at immunology and even then my GP refused to refer me and put me on 25mcg levo when I'm 5ft 10
It did nothing but they insisted it was fine
I eventually had to move doctors and am now on 100mcg levo, it's woefullly under medicated for most people, and they're being told a TSH of 7/8/9/10 is "fine"

You’re all assuming if you are thin you must be healthy. There’s much more to a healthy diet than starving yourself, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes to stay thin. It’s stupid to assume a thin person is eating a healthy diet.

Well, considering the NHS diet advice seems to be to join one of the 'cult ' slimming businesses, I think you should take diet advice from HCP's with a pinch of salt anyway!

Years ago, when we went to a 1 GP village practice, it was the joke of the village that the GP would tell people to give up smoking. It was well known that he smoked and even funnier that he had one of those jars with a mock tarred lung on the window sill in his surgery.

Sounds like run of the mill discrimination to me. Keep your opinions about weight out of the professional arena and your nose out of people’s lifestyles, OP. The medical advice applicable to you does not alter regardless of what qualified person is delivering it.

I was called for a routine over 50 health check. BP, bloods etc. Why wouldn’t I take that offer?

I'm a medic and would say the 2 flaws with that are:

a) many Drs are of average range intelligence (many people are, that's why it's average) but have been encouraged through by family expectations and developed a lot of knowledge. The theory isn't that hard, you just need to stay on top of it.

B)I have come across many nurses who I am confident would have been more than capable of entering Medical school, completing it, and becoming excellent doctors had they chosen to do so. Their knowledge and reasoning is superb.

That's not to diminish nursing, it's a different profession, not a lesser one. But the fact is that becoming a Dr as opposed to a nurse is in large part to do with background, opportunity and aspirations rather than capability. For many, not all, to be clear.

Sometimes I just want to be a patient.

And taking up a routine nhs health check is virtue-signalling? What an odd little opinion to have. The surgery invited me and I was grateful for the offer.

I don’t have a ridiculous ego that means I know everything about my health. And despite my ‘superior medical education’ I can’t guess my current potassium levels or HbA1C 🤷🏼‍♀️

Because they know they are being flattish judgemental and twats and are happy to agree anonymously but not actually comment on it because they know how vile it is

My parents live next door to their GP surgery. The docs recognise them. The one who is known to be a heavy smoker and likes a fag break in the surgery back garden knows that my dad - who also smokes- therefore knows he's a heavy smoker. His no smoking advice always starts "now, I don't need to tell you that smoking is bad for you as you must have seen the adverts etc". The po faced bitch who went on about the wonders of giving up and didn't appreciate being asked what went wrong for her then as we could see her puffing away many times a day no longer works there.

Wrt to your initial post OP, I try not to judge or presume after knowing my amazing junior school headmistress and her thyroid struggles.

I don't dispute the value of blood tests (although I have issues with them delivered and interpreted as a part of generalised screening, but my objections are of statistical nature rather than medical).

But your post says you were expecting a lifestyle advice about cutting off sugar and UPF, and were disappointed the nurse did not provide it? I found it very peculiar that a doctor would go and seek that advice.

You try not to judge with a post almost entirely devoted to being a nasty little judgy pants. The irony.

Knowing something and doing something are completely different things. Nurses generally work long shifts and this is a factor to weight gain as people who work long hours are time poor so may not eat so well or have a chance to exercise.

They should give advice, that's their job...but I think they should have some self awareness if they are very overweight themselves.

For example, they could smile and say ' believe me I know how difficult it is' or something similar .

PE teacher who can't even run 100meters
I actually had exactly that in school, an obese guy who struggled to walk, but oh boy did he shame any girl who had just a bit of chub on her, or was not as sporty as the top performers in class. He probably thought he is doing a good thing and motivating students.

Actually this is woefully misinformed. Stress levels have historically been very cyclical. Get stressed then destressed, this is actually a very normal situation for humans. be hungry-stressed. Get food destress. Fear of being attacked, stress kicks in the fight/flight - get away then destress

in modern life people are constantly stressed, there is a constant assault on our senses and emotions. You can’t get away from stressors. Work emails pinging on phone, online bullying etc etc.

Theres a lot of work looking at the role of chewing in stimulating the vagus nerve. Which helps regulate stress.

The obesity crisis is extremely complex. The rather pathetic uneducated response of it being down to greed/laziness is alienating the people it needs to help. Obese people aren’t stupid. They know carrots are good, crisps are bad and exercise is good. The question is why isn’t this knowledge helping and in 99.99% of cases it isn’t simple greed/laziness. Whilst this greed/laziness /stupid narrative exists the real causes of this crisis will not be addressed

I’m a somewhat overweight nurse - I have chronic health conditions and put on 5 stone in pregnancy due to a mixture of not being able to move and medication I was put on. The weight is starting to go but I’ve a long way to go yet. You’ve no idea of peoples situations are, I think you are being incredibly judgemental yes

Its their job to give you medical advice regardless as to if they follow it themselves.

Did you know that the occupation with one of the highest rates of alcoholics is doctors? Yet they will also tell you to cut out drinking etc.

Its not a moral issue - its literally their job.

I sort of know what you mean. If you struggle with weight gain ( as I have all my life), you ar emaybe looking for success stories and empathy.

Back to the 'good old days..'
There is a real need for clinical staff to be able to move quickly - cardiac arrest, haemorrhage, etc. Not as easy if you are bulky.
This applies to all emergency services - how some police, given they are v large, plus the excess of accouterments, run after a crim, is beyond me.