Report on the College symposium “Obesity – Fa(c)t or Fiction"

On 18/19 October 2007 the College hosted a very successful symposium titled “Obesity – Fa(c)t or Fiction? A Critical Debate”.  This was held at the Heritage Hotel in Auckland. Eighty five people from multi disciplines attended.

The Keynote Speaker was Professor Paul Campos from University of Colorado at Boulder and his papers were titled The Epidemiology of Overweight and Obesity: Public Health Crisis or Moral Panic? and Winning the War by Ceasing to Wage the Battle.

Other speakers were:

Professor Jan Wright – A Balancing Act – young People, and the Messages of the ‘Obesity Epidemic’

Professor Jennie Brand-Miller – Carbohydrates and Weight Control: the Good, the bad and the Wholegrain

Professor Elaine Rush – Pacific Peoples Growth – World Leaders?

Professor Jenny Carryer – Optimising Health in the Midst of the panic about Obesity

Dr Lisette Burrows – “This is how ‘we’ do it”: Pedagogising Families in Obesity Discourse

Margret Westwater-Hobbs – “One of my (fat) ladies”: Visual Appearance, Health and Rhetoric in Weight-Loss Surgery Decisions

The Board of the College would like to give a huge thank you to the Auckland Regional Group for their excellent organisation of the event which has received some wonderful feedback.

One of the attendees was Elizabeth Gould, a 3rd year nursing student at AUT, who was the winner of the Trailblazer Award for Students.  Elizabeth’s report on the symposium follows:

‘A Student Nurses Perspective’

The symposium was opened with a fascinating Powhiri that was welcoming and challenging. This sums up how I felt overall about the symposium, as a student nurse attending my first ever nursing conference.  I felt welcomed and appreciated, not only by nurses, but from other disciplines also.  For the first time in my nursing education I was treated as an equal, not looked down upon as sometimes happens in placements, but as a valued member of the nursing population, and I thank the College of Nurses for setting the atmosphere for that to happen.  I met many inspiring people attending the symposium who took the time to listen and answer my questions, I learnt so much from the wealth of knowledge that was present.  Not to mention the invigorating speakers who were down-to-earth, realistic and interesting to listen and to talk to. 

The symposium changed my perceptions about obesity and the way our health care system is approaching the issue.  It encouraged me to look into my own practice and challenge attitudes I had about obesity.  It has also permeated other areas of my practice, as this revelation has brought about change.  It has also encouraged me to discuss and challenge my peers and fellow nursing students about their approach to obesity.  Also next year when I am a new graduate I will be able to role-model these new attitudes and strategies. 

The wide range of speakers at the symposium delivered a fair and professional ‘critical debate’ that challenged the majority of the candidates.  This was shown by large amount of questions asked at the end of each speaker’s presentation and the continued discussions at break and meal times.  I also had the privilege of attending the symposium dinner on the Thursday night.  Trust me to sit at the table that had the most controversy!  We were so enveloped in discussing intently the issues debated at the conference that everybody else at the dinner was eating desert before we even started our mains!  This just once again demonstrated to me how this topic is so important to discuss because it is a multi-dimensional issue that needs inter-professional cooperation and collaboration to solve.

I was surprised and excited at the wide range of professions that attended the symposium. These included Dieticians, Sport and Exercise experts, Maori health care workers, Intensive Care Nurses, Primary Health Care nurses, Researchers, Food and Nutrition experts, Diabetes specialists, Oncology and Palliative Care nurses, to mention just a few!

I would like to thank the support received from the College of Nurses Aotearoa for their support of me attending this symposium.  Thanks also to the sponsor of the Trailblazer Award, without this funding I would have never had the privilege to attend this symposium.  This was truly a memorable experience and one that will change my nursing practice for the better.

By Elizabeth Gould

Key Messages to come out of the Symposium

Key messages

"During the plenary session of the conference Professor Paul Campos summed up some useful key or take home messages.  He first suggested that people need to actually "get mad" about the continued proliferation of poor science or poorly interpreted science which is promulgating both inaccuracies about the relationship of body size to health and the myth that body size is simply a matter of choice.  He noted the current nature of the moral panic about obesity and the associated media frenzy.  His second key point was the need to develop renewed respect for biological diversity and to recognise that just as some people are tall and some people are short, some people's bodies are bigger than others.  He argued that it is vital that health professionals recognise that there is indeed evidence of the merits of regular movement or exercise for good health and that eating in a way that provides good nutrition is often barred by issues of poverty, access or useful knowledge or health education.

There are strong messages here for nurses who work at the front line with people in many locations.  As such they have huge opportunity to reframe the current panic about obesity away from an obsessive talk about the size of people's bodies and towards a focus on healthy nutrition and healthy exercise.  In addition nurses could provide leadership in ensuring that this focus is managed in a manner which is both regardful of and respectful of the obstacles engendered by poverty, stress, safety and lack of knowledge.