NRI is poster boy for UK obesity campaign

London, Oct. 10:, 2008
PTI

An Indian-origin person in Leicester whose excessive weight (210 kg) took him to India for a stomach-shrinking operation, has become the latest poster boy for a British campaign to tackle obesity.

Raman Sain (30), is supporting a hard-hitting campaign by the local National Health Service (NHS), and wants children to be made aware of the negative impact of eating too much, binge drinking and not exercising enough. After the operation in India, Mr Sain weighs 133 kg.

"I admit it was my own fault I let myself put on so much weight no-one forced me to eat or drink so much but when you put your hands up for help, it must be there. I got the impression that despite the health issues, when it came to operating, no-one was willing to spend the money," said Mr Sain. "We need to drill home the message to children about the dangers of being overweight," he said.

Mr Sain, who wants to become a "beating obesity" ambassador, said he believed the only way to get the message across was for people like him to tell others what it was like being morbidly obese. "I knew I should have done something about it before but I was too lazy. I was thrown a lifeline when I was told I could get treatment on the NHS. Dieticians put me on special diets and I lost some weight, but needed a stomach stapling operation," he said.

Mr Sain was told in 2007 that he was too fat to have a surgery on the NHS and ended up travelling to India to have an operation to cut his stomach size. "I had endless hospital appointments and then I was told surgeons would not operate," he added.