Table 2 Conditions and drivers affecting weight and weight management

Mechanical

• I blew my knee out for the first time probably in the late nineties and that’s when my weight really started to go up. ‘Cause that reduced my physical activity I was doing. (Patient 3)

• This cough…I just feel that I’m not getting air into my lungs. No ending it. I thought it was a cold, but then after a couple of bottles of cough syrup and no relief, he (family physician) said, ‘Throw it away, here’s an inhaler.’ I’ve done lung capacity and all kinds of x-rays, and done the sinus and the whole thing and nothing. . .Yeah, snowballs. I think there’s a bit of a steroid in this inhaler, because I’ve noticed the weight has gone up since I started on the inhaler. (Patient 6)

Mental

• I was seeing my physician and we were talking about me being an emotional eater… (Patient 4)

• I have other issues that relate to the weight because I’m an alcoholic, we’re dealing with all of that together. So that’s a big part of my weight management is quit (chuckle) drinking. So she’s more concerned about that issue than she is about my weight. Because if I stop drinking, the weight is going to come off and I’m noticing that. (Patient 16)

• . . .because of the weight gain that I’m having. And the stress that’s in my life! (chuckle) The two go hand in hand. (Patient 27)

• My weight issues are connected to mental and emotional issues from childhood so there is a mental component, sort of almost borderline addiction component to my obesity… (Patient 22)

Metabolic

• I can tell you where I got pretty heavy at one point, really heavy, and that’s due to the fact I went through prostate cancer. Also, I’ve taken radiation, and then hormone therapy to knock down your testosterone, which makes you gain weight. . . They just told me it was a common thing to take place when you’re taking hormones. So, don’t panic! (Patient 10)

Monetary

• When I get paid I go grocery shopping. But I get to a point where I don’t have any money. So, I might have to call the Food Bank. Well, last month, I unfortunately had to call the Food Bank. What I got in my basket was bagels, three loaves of bread, cereal, one lettuce, tube things of pasta, two bags of carrots, and a bunch of sweets. Nothing that I could eat except the lettuce! So when you’re hungry it’s hard because that’s all you have. I hardly ever buy canned food, because there’s too much garbage in it. If I do I make sure it’s things, like tuna, that I know I can eat. I try and keep things like that for my emergencies. But it’s really hard when you have no money and you need food. What do you eat? (Patient 16)