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obesity matters launches french division to support and advocate for people in quebec  

"parlons obésité, is about empowering french canadians to advocate for their rights"

by karen hawthorne
published oct 23, 2024
last updated oct 28, 2024
read time 5 minute read
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read time 5 minute read
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the obesity matters leadership team, pictured, has worked tirelessly to develop resources to bring unprecedented support to people living with obesity in quebec through the organization's new french division, parlons obésité. supplied

this october, the visionary team behind obesity matters in toronto launched a french division of the canadian nonprofit in quebec – parlons obésité – bringing unprecedented support and services to the community.

the organization is on a mission to empower people living with overweight and obesity through advocacy, evidence-based education and creating a community of inclusiveness and support.
“we want to have a measurable impact on public opinion and policy discourse regarding obesity treatment and coverage. by raising awareness and by fostering these meaningful discussions, we want to increase the visibility of obesity matters and parlons obésité, the new division, as a leading voice in obesity advocacy in quebec and across canada,” says priti chawla, toronto founder and executive director of obesity matters. parlons obésité is translated as “let’s talk about obesity” – which is exactly what chawla intends to do more of with french-speaking canadians.
the dialogue around obesity is shifting to recognize its status as a medical condition, backed by evidence and clinical trials that have paved the way for new prescription medications for obesity. these obesity medications are excluded from funding coverage in quebec, says chawla, which is a barrier to health equity that needs to be addressed.

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“ultimately, parlons obésité, is about empowering french canadians to advocate for their rights,” she says.
“the fact that there are effective treatments is huge for our community. we know that behaviour is important and education is important, but there are actually treatments that are working now that we can offer to our community along with everything else. that’s where we can collaborate with healthcare providers and policymakers and drive change. there’s a lot to be excited about.”
finding a supportive community can be the first step for people to feel heard and empowered to work together for the quality of care that they deserve.
non-judgmental support and belonging can be hard to find in a world where being a certain size is regarded as successful and attractive. living with obesity is often seen as a character flaw where someone is lacking the skill to “eat less and move more,” the mantra that some doctors still say to patients who are living with this serious chronic disease.
chawla lived with the stigma of obesity for years, starting as a child in an all-girls school in her home of calcutta, india, now called kolkata. she felt insecure because she was one of the “chubbier girls” in her class.
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“the weight struggles have been very personal for me because i was navigating the daily impact on my life right from physical to emotional. i went through all kinds of yo-yo dieting and exercise regimens. while you’re on it, it’s great, but the minute you come off, things bounded back and then along with that, the stigma also followed me.” she recalls an aunt who told her she was too fat to get married, and going to parties where she was never asked to dance.
coming to toronto in 1990 with her children and four suitcases was the beginning of new roots and a fresh start, including a lot of time for self-reflection. she wondered why she would never rock the boat and was always trying to please people, instead of standing up for herself. “why could i not challenge anyone? why would i just go with the flow?”
talk to her today and you’ll see she’s a tiger, building on her skills to bring people together and inspire advocacy. she’s run pr campaigns and volunteered with obesity canada where she eventually led its toronto chapter. and when the pandemic shuttered the event-planning business she had grown, she decided to find another path with a heightened sense of purpose.
“with my past volunteer experiences, i’ve gotten to know an amazing network of people. there was a lot of diet culture at that time. i was really thinking about evidence-based strategies to raise awareness about the realities of living with overweight and obesity. it was about breaking down barriers and creating an advocacy voice.”
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obesity matters was launched on march 3, 2021, a timely move as a prelude to world obesity day on march 4.
as the momentum and interest in the nonprofit have made strides, chawla networked in quebec to recruit advisors, recognizing the urgent need for a platform that goes beyond the translation of materials. “for all that we are doing to be national, we must include the french-speaking communities across canada in very meaningful ways to make them feel that they’re part of this whole movement. we know that obesity is a major public health issue and they also face barriers in accessing care and navigating stigma.”
her team has designed resources, wellness workshops and support services that are relevant to french quebec culture and healthcare systems in the way disease care is structured and accessed.
tammy cadieux is a clinical nurse for more than 20 years, educator, advocate and member of the parlons obésité leadership team. she and her husband, an internal medicine physician, opened lanaudière metabolic medicine center in 2015, a montreal clinic for people with metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity. they wanted a place to offer comprehensive care and spend more time with each patient than working in a hospital setting would allow.
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“it takes time to teach patients and give them tools for living at home. when you take the time, they can change their quality of life and their risk to have a new comorbidity. and if you take that time for every chronic disease, i think you can make a real difference,” cadieux says of the approach she’d like to see more healthcare providers embrace. she recognizes the need for obesity to be treated as a chronic disease to avoid the associated risks of health burdens like diabetes, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease and mental health disorders.
“obesity is not a number on the scale. if you lose weight, it means it is better for all of your body to prevent so many other problems.”
in this vein, she’s excited about growing the division in quebec to offer credible information and experts available to patients and creating a community for sharing their experience. “there is a lot of suffering behind obesity,” she says. “we have a lot of patients who are alone. they have no friends, no family, and they have no access to a family doctor. they just want to learn more and having the opportunity to talk with someone who has the same chronic disease is so important.”
as chawla says, finding community is empowering – and this is just the beginning.
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“the french division is really amplifying the patient voice or the community voice, because when you do things in silos, things are not effective. if you want policy change to include treatments for care whether it’s surgery or medication, you need the patients’ voice.”
karen hawthorne
karen hawthorne

karen hawthorne worked for six years as a digital editor for the national post, contributing articles on health, business, culture and travel for affiliated newspapers across canada. she now writes from her home office in toronto and takes breaks to bounce with her son on the backyard trampoline and walk bingo, her bull terrier.

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