November 14, 2021 — It’s hard to miss the zeal that people bring to matters of health, wellness, and fitness. We’re part of it. Believing that health systems should, can, and will do better in helping folks with obesity, we devote silly amounts of time to writing about it daily. The motivation is simply to share information that might […]
May 10, 2020 — Butt out. It seems like such simple advice. Yet it’s rarely heeded. Especially when it comes to people clucking about someone else’s size and weight. Two recent examples are top of mind. First, we have Adele who quietly lost some weight without first getting permission. And then we have Abby Ellin wondering aloud in the […]
February 11, 2020 — We have little patience with false dichotomies. Sometimes they offer a way to win an argument. But they don’t do anything for the cause of finding the truth. When one seems to pop up over and over again, it’s especially annoying. For example, obesity care and body positivity are, in fact, complimentary. Not mutually exclusive. […]
July 10, 2019 — Regarding obesity as a disease is associated with lower weight bias among physicians. That’s the title of a new study in Stigma and Health. Before now, researchers have had experimental evidence. They’ve shown that positioning obesity as a disease could reduce weight stigma and bias. Now, in addition, this new study gives us real world […]
May 8, 2019 — Identity is every bit as tricky as it is important. It gets even trickier when an identity is the target of bias. Another layer of complexity comes with the conviction that we can choose our own identities. Does a condition or physical characteristic define me? Is it an identity to claim or a challenge to […]
March 15, 2019 — Living large in a world designed for much smaller people presents daily challenges. On top of that, coping with everybody’s bias makes it even harder. Sometimes it’s just implicit. Restaurants and offices might not have any place for you to sit. Public transportation is a hostile environment. But then there’s the explicit stuff. Some strangers […]
December 4, 2018 — No doubt, the intentions behind this headline were good. “Obesity is too dangerous to normalize,” said a letter to the editor on Sunday in the Washington Post. That letter came in response to a commentary about plus-size fashion that pleaded for clothes that will let bigger women simply be themselves. And feel good about it, […]
July 8, 2018 — Obesity, nutrition, and health bring out feelings of moral certitude with surprising frequency. But that means speculation about conspiracies, moral issues, and conflicts of interest crowds out reason and facts way too often. A Moral Issue with Dietary Advice? Reading up on debates about the relationship between carbs, insulin, and obesity, we found some harsh […]
April 18, 2018 — Step right up! Many people are handing out unsolicited advice about obesity and what’s best for you. This sort of advice comes from two dramatically different extremes. We hear it from ignorant, biased individuals who think that solutions are easy. But it also comes from people who say, forget it. Obesity is no big deal […]
January 29, 2018 — Respect for human diversity is a slippery goal. You might assume that public health policies advance that goal. But a new analysis from Ximena Ramos Salas and colleagues suggests that the opposite is true. Policies aimed at obesity can contribute to bias against people living with it. Five Pervasive Themes Ramos Salas found five problem […]
