“More than 60% of people in Bulgaria have a weight problem. Obesity is like an avalanche. Being fat is stigmatized. Society pretends to accept such people but that is hardly so,” says Desislava Hristozova, author of a book about the problems people who are overweight have to face. In a recent interview with the BNR’s Horizont channel she said she had taken bringing the people with weight problems out into the light as her mission – how they live and how they fight excess weight. “You need to learn, within the family, what to eat, how to be active and to live your life in a way that will keep you healthy and prevent obesity. We need to have health education on the matter,” she said further. Years ago, Desislava Hristozova herself tried out all kinds of diets until she became addicted to food. She set up a foundation for obesity prevention among people in Bulgaria, and called it “Desi, where are you?” because she wanted to find people with the same problem she could start hiking with along the hiking routes of Mount Vitosha near Sofia. Desislava Hristozova used to weigh 151 kgs., but with more physical activity she has lost over 20 kgs. She is now trying to help others in her position, but also to let everyone know that the problems of young people and adults who are overweight is something that should be talked about much more often because they affect a great many people.

Compiled by Gergana Mancheva
Translated and posted by Milena Daynova