August 1, 2015 — The American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) announced this week that they will change their name to the Obesity Medicine Association on October 2 this year. The society is making the change “to better align with the widespread recognition of obesity as a chronic disease among health care professionals.” Oddly enough, this name change completes a […]
January 28, 2015 — About a month ago, the highest court of the European Union touched off a fierce debate about the relationship between obesity and disabilities. Today, all of the major organizations with expertise in obesity have stepped forward to clear up some of the silliness that came out of that debate. The Obesity Society, the Obesity Action Coalition, […]
March 26, 2014 — The endocrinologists have gotten religion about dealing with obesity as a chronic disease. In 2011, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) adopted a position affirming that obesity is a complex, chronic disease. Ever since then, AACE has been showing up at every public forum that arises to affirm their support for addressing obesity as […]
February 22, 2014 — Name-calling is something that civility puts out of bounds, especially when the subject is someone with a chronic disease or a disability. Decades have passed since it was permissible to demean people by labeling them with a disability or a chronic condition. Labels like “cripples,” “autistics,” and “epileptics” have — thankfully — passed out of […]
October 11, 2013 — When the American Medical Association declared that obesity is a chronic disease, the question for most doctors was, “OK, so how do we treat it?” Today the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) published an answer — a straightforward clinical algorithm for treating obesity. While this algorithm doesn’t break a great deal of new ground, […]
