April 27, 2023 — “There’s a huge fatphobia problem in the eating disorder world,” says Shira Rosenbluth. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, an eating disorder therapist, and has her own life experiences with eating disorders. Obesity and eating disorders can appear in the same patients and some research would suggest they frequently do. But for each of […]
March 13, 2023 — It was nothing short of cathartic for many people toiling in the tricky space of advocacy for people living with obesity. Brendan Fraser last night won an Oscar, Best Actor, for his portrayal of Charlie in The Whale. His character, Charlie, is dying from complications of obesity and the movie depicts him as a very […]
February 25, 2023 — Justin Ryder is quite plain about obesity and the stigma attached to it. “It’s the most stigmatized disease in the world. In America, we view obesity as a personal behavior problem and not as a disease.” Ryder should know. He is a pediatric obesity scientist and a vice-chair of research at Lurie Children’s Hospital in […]
November 23, 2022 — Whether or not it’s by intention, when and if parents try to talk with their children about body weight, it comes across as finger wagging. In fact, research published earlier this year tells us many youth never want their parents to talk about their weight – especially not their fathers. Parents might want to offer […]
October 16, 2022 — It’s a fact. Healthcare professionals are human and so are their patients. So inevitably they will – regardless of their professionalism – encounter friction with some patients. These are patients who wind up being labeled “difficult” and all too often because of that label, receive care that is less than optimal. Physician Joan Naidorf says […]
July 29, 2020 — Presumably, when people choose a career in healthcare, at least one of the motivations is to care for other people. So we might expect that along with caring comes respect in healthcare. But that is not a guarantee, apparently. For some providers, respecting diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, and size seems to be a challenge. […]
July 27, 2019 — It’s getting tougher all the time to have an honest conversation that touches on health and weight. Maybe that’s a good thing. But, from time to time, it gets out of hand. Dietitians sometimes find themselves caught between clients who want to lose weight and colleagues who are pushing hard on the principles of Health […]
August 23, 2017 — Bill Maher has discovered the absurdity of blowhards. Friday on his show, Real Time, he started with the idea that extremes of both the left and the right push some absurd ideas. But then took his sport of public ridicule further. He hurled a rant at people who don’t look like him: These colors don’t […]
June 30, 2017 — When words start spilling from the mouths of toddlers, parents get a thrill. The thrill turns to a bit of panic when an offensive word spills out. The toddler gets attention. Parents find themselves on a long road of teaching by example. Offensive words certainly grab attention, but then they just get in the way. […]
April 12, 2017 — Forgive the schadenfreude here. But United had it coming. The airline summoned security Sunday to violently toss a doctor out of his seat. They literally dragged him off their plane and bloodied his face in the process. United had oversold the flight and wanted to take the doctor’s seat for one of its employees. The incident makes a perfect ad […]
