October 18, 2021 — All too often, the healthcare experiences of people living with obesity are appalling. And the reason is simple. For many professionals, all they can see is a fat person. More often than not, the answer to every health problem is “you should lose some weight” – irrespective of any consideration of the whole person. So […]
October 4, 2019 — At the fall meeting of the Obesity Medicine Association, it’s plain to see. A critical mass is building for delivering real obesity care. More than 1,100 clinicians are gathering in Boston to learn more about the science and clinical practice of obesity care. In fact, many of them have come to prepare for the board […]
June 25, 2019 — Until recently, the bar has been very low for obesity care in most of healthcare. “Instruct the patient to lose weight” is the most common guidance. However, three new publications in Obesity make it clear how much that’s changing. It’s clear that healthcare is setting a higher bar for obesity care. A Proposed Standard for […]
April 11, 2019 — “I am ashamed to work in a healthcare profession that treats people in such a manner,” says Rachel Batterham. Batterham is a brilliant researcher and professor of obesity, diabetes, and endocrinology. But on Wednesday at the fourth World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, she reached outside of her comfort zone to talk […]
March 19, 2019 — Here’s a jolt of reality from research at the NYU School of Medicine. Among the students who are ready to go into the clinic for their clerkships, most of them believe that controllable factors are very important causes of obesity. But most of them think that biological and genetic factors are not very important. This […]
September 7, 2018 — We’re just one month away from National Obesity Care Week. It’s October 7-16 this year. But now is the time to make your plans and pledge to take action. Here’s why. 1. Weight Bias Is Blocking Progress Weight stigma starts early and hits hard. It has devastating effects on health and quality of life at […]
July 23, 2018 — Unfortunately, this is a conversation that doesn’t happen very often. By this, we mean talking to your healthcare provider about obesity care. In fact, Andrew Stokes and colleagues found that only about ten percent of people with obesity talk to any healthcare provider about it. Only four percent actually talk to a doctor. And talking […]
June 22, 2018 — Writing in the Washington Post, dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield has a simple cure for weight stigma in healthcare. Stop weighing heavier patients, she says. Healthcare might improve. To make her point, she tells the story of Bernie Salazar. He was an “at-home” winner of The Biggest Loser. Visiting with a relatively new doctor, he felt shame and […]
