Doctor urges early action on obesity, warns against waiting for illness

The chairman of the Indonesian Clinical Nutrition Doctors Association (PDGKI), Dr. Erwin Christianto, has reminded the public not to wait until they fall ill before addressing obesity. “The important thing is not to wait until you are sick. Don’t wait until your weight keeps increasing, your cholesterol rises, and you make it a topic of conversation. ‘I don’t feel anything.’ That will lead to late treatment,” Erwin said during the launch of the #BeraniBicaraBerat obesity education campaign in Jakarta on Friday. He advised the public to adopt three steps to recognise obesity risk: Observe, Measure, and Act. On the first step, he urged people to observe changes in their body, including clothing size. “If suddenly your clothes feel tight around the stomach or arms, you must be cautious,” he said. Erwin noted that men with an abdominal circumference of 90 centimetres or more and women with 80 centimetres or more need to be aware of central obesity risk. He added that the public can utilise the government’s Free Health Check-up programme for examinations, including blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The programme’s 2026 technical guidelines also include central obesity as a condition requiring further evaluation for obesity-related diseases or complications. Following observation and measurement, the next step is to act by making lifestyle changes and seeking health information from trusted sources. If necessary, the public can consult healthcare professionals. “After all that, you must act,” Erwin said. He added that obesity treatment needs to be carried out as early as possible without waiting for accompanying diseases such as diabetes or other metabolic disorders to appear.