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An Unexpected "Comment War" as I Wonder WHY I Kept Reading
- Derek Arsenault (CSEP-CPT, PN1)
- Apr 11
- 3 min read
I don't often write posts on a Saturday morning, but I had to share this as I laughed and was shaking my head at "the battle" going on in the comments on a Linkdin post. I don't see this often on Linkdin which is why I stick around, as there's some good info and connections.
One such connection is Dr Ian Patton who works with Obesity Canada.
Here's what I took out of this "comment war" this person chose to have with themselves.... 😂
This person chose to share (according to them) only part of their thoughts in order to "simplify it for the comments section" and then gets upset when the conversation swings back misaligned with what they're "trying" to say. 😳
The "agressors" job is in court & youth services. Dr Ian Patton's job is with Obesity Canada. The post (if you didn't click the link previously) is discussing obesity. 'Nuff said. 😳
I respected Dr Patton's decision to not take the comments any further and engage with someone who continues the "argument" with themselves to try to get the upper hand. 🙄😂
Some food for thought swirling around my brain after reading that...
We're always going to be held back in our health as a society when we just battle back and forth, with closed minds.
I don't believe ANYONE has all the answers, nor should ANY professional act like they do - but when someone's career is IN the profession, I'm probably going to give more attention and weight to what insight they have, even if my OPINION is different at first.
I don't disagree with what this person is TRYING to say by any means. There are SO MANY FACTORS contributing to obesity. But as Dr Patton points out - IT'S COMPLEX! Just like we are. As humans we OVER-SIMPLIFY things we don't fully understand or can control, which in situations such as the obesity conversation, is a fault in our thinking and approach.
This is why I'm not on Instagram, Facebook etc for general social media use. Why do I want to read this type of thing regularly? I'm questionning today why I kept reading this comment thread. 🥴
Let me share an idea of what Dr Ian Patton is saying...
This is the Obesity Sight Map, that was done in 2007 by the UK Government Office for Science that shows how COMPLEX obesity ACTUALLY is.
The map contains 108 variables that are connected by approximately 300 casual links. 😳 It shows that there are MANY factors that may contribute to a person's obesity, which goes well beyond a "calories in, calories out" approach for example. As I mentioned previously, the person in the comments of the post is not wrong by any means. But they're only scratching the surface.
I've discussed this map with some groups in the past few years to help people begin to understand how we tend to oversimplify something that actually runs deep. To me, this map helps bring some "ah-ha" moments and self-compassion, while better understanding why a "this + that approach" won't always help when working with obesity.
When we ALL start to open our minds to the reality that our physiology is complex and deep, and that there may be MORE to the story, then we may be able to start having conversations and learning how to create sustainable change.
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