Marking 20 Years Fighting the Misunderstanding of Obesity
It isn’t easy. But it is getting better. The OAC Your Weight Matters (YWM) Convention is getting underway in earnest this morning with a full program of education, support, and advocacy for all of the people affected by obesity. This occasion celebrates 20 years of the OAC’s work. Yesterday, early arrivers set out on Capitol Hill to talk to their elected representatives about how this chronic disease affects our lives and how the misunderstanding of obesity has led to policies that make it worse.
Right now our health systems, which have better tools than ever to improve the health of people living with obesity, often put more energy into denying people care for obesity than than into helping us. All of this flows from a misunderstanding of obesity.
First and Foremost, It’s All About Health
“This is all about whole health,“ said our Senator John Fetterman. We met with him yesterday because, he told us, his experience with tirzapatide “changed my life.” He is quick to say that he did not take it because of obesity, he took it because he needed it for his heart health. He wrote in the New York Times:
“Even though I started taking it for my heart health, I’ve been struck by how much better it has made me feel across the board. It’s made a significant impact on my overall health. Aches, pains and stiffness have vanished. Physically, I feel a decade younger, clearer-headed, and more optimistic than I’ve been in years. As far as a side effects, I’ve also lost around 20 pounds.”
He doesn’t really care about obesity and all of the baggage that goes with it. He cares about what this drug, indicated for obesity and its complications, has done for his health. And he is very clear that everyone who needs it should have access to it.
Stigma That Flows from Misunderstanding
It is clear enough from talking with Senator Fetterman that he doesn’t like the word – obesity. It’s not what he’s there for. He’s in the fight for a fair shot at better health.
But meanwhile, the OAC has been fighting the stigma attached to obesity because of the misunderstanding of this disease. James Zervios, Joe Nadglowski, Geeta Nayyar, Mary Himmelstein, and Nikki Massie kicked off the YWM Convention last night with a deep dive into the misinformation about obesity we’ve been fighting now for two decades. It all comes from misunderstanding the disease – from making something that is complex falsely into something simple. Something with simple answers, like “just lose weight.”
It can be simple, but only if we get back to focusing on health. Not weight, not blame, not shame. Just better health. And now we have many options that work for many people who are living with obesity.
Thank goodness OAC is fighting so more of us can have access to those options.
Click here for more about the OAC YWM convention program and explore the links to get all the details. Follow #YWM2025 on your favorite social media channels for the latest news.
OAC Advocates on the Hill, photograph by Liz Paul / OAC
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July 25, 2025
July 25, 2025 at 10:39 am, Allen Browne said:
Go, Go, Go!!!!!!
Allen
July 26, 2025 at 2:20 pm, Mary-Jo said:
Big congratulations on 20 years, OAC! I so amazed at how much help and professionalism, true progress all of you have achieved in the work and fight for understanding, respect, effective treatments, critical insights and perspectives on obesity. I don’t like the word either because so many negatives associated with it from years of inertia and stigma, not to mention bogus treatments. But it is what it is and please many more successful years and exciting progress ahead!?☀️