March 24, 2022 — The economy of shame and pride is at work in human cultures everywhere. Public shaming can take aim at whole countries and companies or at random individuals. In The Shame Machine, Cathy O’Neil describes shame as the foundation for an industry that can destroy people: “Humiliation lingers in the mind, the heart, the veins, the […]
November 6, 2020 — The Obesity Journal Symposium at ObesityWeek is a reliable source of new insights. This year’s edition was yesterday and it did not disappoint. Four new papers covered a diverse range of topics with excellence. But two of them are especially notable for challenging some popular thoughts about obesity. First, Emma Stinson et al tells us […]
June 21, 2019 — It’s easy to lose sight of power dynamics in obesity. “Instruct the patient to lose weight.” For years, that was the standard prescription for dealing with obesity in primary care. It is worse than useless advice. People with obesity dread hearing a condescending lecture from health providers. That’s because power dynamics matter. We live in […]
November 16, 2018 — The last few days at ObesityWeek brought us some fascinating insights relating to poverty, stress, and access to obesity care. Presentations here remind us that obesity has a complex relationship with social status. Food security plays a role. Veterans live with a higher risk. And yet, access to effective care is nothing short of bizarre […]
August 26, 2018 — A friend and dietitian explained this several years ago. We were having lunch with a few of her colleagues who are also dietitians involved with food policy. “We call this competitive eating,” she said. Apparently, the idea is to enhance your professional status – or at least protect it – based on what you order at a […]
April 25, 2016 — Could a rigged game of Monopoly give us insight into the complicated relationship between social status and obesity? Michelle Cardel and colleagues have published a new study in Physiology and Behavior that does precisely that. Mickey Stunkard first published landmark work on social factors and obesity more than 50 years ago. As Greg Pavella and colleagues […]
