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.

What you see on the ward as a visitor is not a true reflection of what’s actually going on you know ?

You must be one of those people who think it’s “ quiet “ just because there is no nurse in your loved one’s bay !

“Working in the nhs” is different to “working in the nhs as a nurse”, by the way !
As I said, if you’re not a nurse, you won’t get it

It’s like talking to a brick wall !

Riiiiight. You eat the chocolate coz it’s free….got it.
Buy yourself a bloody bunch of bananas and bring one in every day. It’s not rocket science, it’s an excuse and a very poor one at that.

Blah blah blah same old excuses, no breaks, no time etc. YOU choose what you put in your mouth. Eating a bar of chocolate or eating a banana takes the same time. It’s ludicrous to suggest otherwise. You CHOOSE the chocolate and then blame it on getting no breaks but still manage to have time to eat choc instead of something healthy. You DON’T want the bloody banana, you want the chocolate and so you choose to eat it and blame it on everything under the sun other than the real reason…. Which is YOU CHOOSE To make that decision.

I don’t really want a banana. This feels like a mind read …

I agree to an extent that obesity is normalised in society in general. Let’s face it- it’s “normal” to be overweight; 67 % of the population are overweight and that figure’s rising!

However shaming people doesn’t work- telling them they’re weak doesn’t work.

From an evolutionary perspective, we’re all fucked. As mammals we’re hard wired to consume food when it’s readily available in case of times of scarcity. We’re supposed to be constantly moving as a species and hunting food.

Instead we’re reliant on technology, instant gratification, far too sedentary and mostly running on stress hormones with little work/ life balance in a battle to earn enough money to live; surrounded by convenience food . A slice of cake can be a person’s one source of pleasure (dopamine hit) in a shitty day.

Yes humans can exert a self control that animals can’t but let’s at least accept how incredibly difficult that can be.

Add in an image obsessed society and it’s easy to see how people (women) have a fucked up relationship with food and body image.

Modern medicine and modern lifestyle means it’s entirely possible to get away with being slightly over weight. It’s not a life or death situation for most adults so there’s little compulsion (from a health perspective) to change.

There is no easy fix.
Weight loss drugs such as Wegovy are a fantastic leap forward into tackling morbid obesity and easing pressure on the NHS.

Tackling the root cause of obesity on the other hand is an almost impossible task.

Exactly. It’s the choice you make.

I was pleasantly surprised that the 1 Banana I bought in Tesco last week (because I needed some change) was 15p

I didn’t think you could buy anything to snack on for 15p anymore!

Also a family member is a HCP (junior doctor). They each pay in a monthly amount to stock the staff room with snacks for breaks, it is always crisps, chocolate and coke. When it was her turn to buy in the stuff, she considered getting something healthier but thought she wouldn’t be very popular!

She eats healthily and prepares all her meals for the week on her days off and freezes or refrigerates them. She gets very tired but always sets time aside each week to do this as it’s important to her. It can be done.

The PP was talking about a fruit bowl on the nurses station. Obviously nurses can’t keep personal belongings behind the nurses station, that what your locker is for. So your individual banana just for you along with your healthy meal is probably on a different floor and you would have to leave the ward short staffed and go 15 mins to get it.
I don’t think you understand.
At one point we weren’t allowed individual water bottles behind the desk.

the idea of a fruit bowl for staff is truly lovely though, but expensive.

God there are some vile people on this thread. We all know its a CHOICE (stop shouting at us). Reasons are not excuses. We know its us. Really what are you hoping to achieve by talking down to us and patronising and infantalising I have no idea.
But you aren't coming across well. At all.

No-one is shouting. If you think you’re coming across well as a GP stropping and name-calling people, you are quite wrong.

I don’t think she’s stropping or coming across badly. She is perfectly entitled to be in her own workplace without having people pass judgement on her body size!

It’s the choice they make. There is zero need for a patient to pass judgement on the size of their HCPs body. How on earth does it affect you on an individual level?!

No, reasons are not excuses but excuses is all I am hearing. A reason is why you cannot do something and an excuse is something you use to justify doing something that you absolutely don’t have to.
You don’t have to eat the constant and seemingly never ending supply of free chocolate. By your reckoning you are fat because people bring chocolate and you cannot go get something healthy from your locker so you have to eat it. That is not a reason, it’s an excuse.
Cadbury’s must be making a killing with the amount of chocolates that people buy every day to give to nurses.

I don't care about the size of my GP or nurses. Am happy to accept advice even though my GP is rather larger than me. I would expect a slim and fit personal trainer, though. I think I might also expect a mentally healthy therapist.

If I went for a routine, run of the mill checkup and was not overweight, I certainly would raise an eyebrow at 2 obviously obese people giving me unwarranted advice on my own weight.

Im not actually fat, I don’t know why you think I am.
But my diet when I work is horrific. It’s very unhealthy. I can see why nurses struggle to be healthy.

You didn’t see her deleted post and is now calling people “vile”.

I would rather see a good fat nurse than a slim rubbish nurse.

Tbh I don't care how large the nurse is its none of my business as long as she's a good nurse. She's employed to do a job not to follow the guidelines for herself. WTAF OP how entitled!!

I'm sure the two 'fat nurses' do have some 'insight'.

You surely know that they have to go through the 'tick box' procedure: height, weight, BP, urine test, etc. During health checks they are required to give you the guidance on diet and weight - that doesn't mean they are oblivious to their own weight; just as doctors/nurses who drink a lot of wine have to advise you that you should stick to the guidelines of 14 units per week.

Overweight dieticians and fitness trainers dispensing nutritional/fitness/dietary advice they’re clearly not adhering to, or unable to adhere to themselves, for whatever reason — definite no, no.
Overweight nurses and doctors dispensing such advice — not ideal, but acceptable, because it’s only a small part of what they do, and it’s routine advice that they are required to give out as part of their job.

Well that wasn't me I'm actually a GP not a nurse. But the words you use and the manner you speak about nurses stuffing their faces is really derogatory and unpleasant.

Rather than passing comment on people's bodies, maybe be appreciative that they're there to save lives.

People working in healthcare make huge commitments and sacrifice a lot, to provide life-saving and life-changing care and treatment to people in need. They (we) do not want, need or deserve to be judged on physical appearances.

And no, I still don't get breaks.

Rather than passing comment on people's bodies, maybe be appreciative that they're there to save lives.

Isn’t the point rather that medics are passing comment on their patient’s bodies? Hence the thread title.

A friend of mine (ironically herself a doctor) was labelled “overweight” by a doctor recently despite not having smidge of fat on her - just a super athletic and muscular frame. She could have made your comment but I doubt he would have been any less dismissive.

The clinicians in the OP's post met her at a voluntary appointment (she chose to attend, on the understanding that it was a health check). They carried out physical health assessments within their professional remit and provided information and recommendations based upon the results. The feedback received may have been difficult to hear, but it was not an unsolicited passing comment on someone.

That is not the same as judging and commenting about the physical appearance of others who are simply going about their work.

If I go to a physical health appointment, I expect that there will be an assessment of my physical health, including consideration of weight and associated factors (and no, before anyone starts trying to judge me or make me feel insecure about my own body, I'm not massively huge and I'm fine the way I am, thank you). That's an assessment in a professional capacity. If someone made unsolicited judgemental comments about my physical appearance in other settings, especially when I'm at work, that would be different. That would be rude and uncalled for.

Seriously, what is wrong with you? Why are you so aggressive? Unhealthy habits often have complex roots. Being so shouty about it is hardly helpful to anyone...If you really really want to understand, I suggest the following:

Buy yourself a bloody bunch of books on psychology and read one chapter every day. It's not rocket science, its an excuse to be so ignorant and a very poor one at that.