PHILIPPINES: Experts Say It’s Harder for Obese People to be Happy

. MANILA, Philippines / The Inquirer / August 21, 2007: Happiness is more elusive to obese people, but it doesn't mean they cannot enjoy life, psychiatrists said today in a health forum. It all depends on an obese person's "self-perception," said Dr. Felicitas Artiaga-Soriano, president of the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA). Some people, like her own healthy mother, associate "being big with contentment in life," she said. However, today's pervading view that thin is beautiful is affecting so many obese Filipinos, men and women alike. Soriano said psychiatrists like her are at times at a loss on how to convince patients that they can "enjoy life even if they are not thin." "There are cases when no matter how they diet, they don't get thin because the structure of their body is big. I don't know what to say anymore to women in this situation and they want to be thin," Soriano said. The Philippine National Nutrition Health Evaluation and Survey in 2003 noted that obesity among Filipinos had increased from 3.2 percent to 4.9 percent of the total population in five years. Overweight Filipinos jumped from 16.9 percent of the population to 19.6 percent from 1998 to 2003. Dr. Antonio Sison, another PPA official, said that "anybody can be happy regardless of weight but for obese people, the probability of being happy is less, in the social context and also in their personal sphere." In certain instances, society does not treat people well, Sison said. For example, he said, airlines would charge an extra seat for a huge person who cannot fit in one and clothing shops would only offer limited sizes, adding to the person's insecurity. "In the personal sphere, obese persons don't feel good. They would have problems at work, they have issues with their friends and family," he said. Filipinos should remember that "not all thin people are beautiful and that not all fat is bad." Even young Filipinos are increasingly becoming conscious of their weight, a veteran nutritionist said at the forum. "Elementary schoolchildren are now very conscious that by the time they reach high school, they become depressed that they are fat. They get very anxious about the overweight situation," said Sanirose Orbeta, vice president of the Philippine Association for the Study of Overweight and Obesity. The 2003 survey noted that obesity affects 3.1 percent of young Filipinos between 11 and 19 years old, one to 5 percent of children between 6 and 10 years old, and 1.9 percent of children between zero and five years old. The study attributed this to a decline in children's outdoor activities and sedentary lifestyle. While there are no hard facts and figures available yet, the psychiatrists said they have observed a correlation between depression and obesity among Filipinos. "There is a link between depression and obesity. And suicide is a risk factor to be considered," Sison said. Aside from obesity leading to depression, Sison said that depression itself could lead to overeating. He said eating becomes a "coping mechanism and little by little, a person starts to gain weight." Quoting the World Health Organization, Soriano said that depression would become the world's number one cause of morbidity, or hindrance to function as a person, by 2020. In the Philippines, she said, poverty, disasters, and substance abuse are causes of depression. Children of overseas Filipino workers, left behind unsupervised by their parents, also tend to become depressed, Soriano added. She said that latest studies have shown that three out of every 100 Filipinos suffer from major depression while nine out of every hundred suffer from anxiety. By Nikko Dizon© Copyright 2001-2007 INQUIRER