November 4, 2020 — Many of us are struggling to hold onto a quaint belief in facts. But we’re also learning to deal with ambiguity. Simply because we don’t have all the facts. So we all, to varying degrees, rely on feelings to guide us. Welcome to the world of obesity, where we cope with an imperfect knowledge of […]
October 9, 2020 — “I don’t know how everyone else is coping but I’ve been up and down like a rollercoaster,” says Ricki Frost of Middlesbrough, England. His comments point to the mental health challenges brought by the coronavirus pandemic. Depression and anxiety are high on that list. What’s more, weight discrimination can make it worse. New research in […]
September 20, 2020 — A new perspective in Obesity reminds us that weight discrimination at work is stubborn. Worse yet, it’s perfectly legal. Shreya Sabharwal and colleagues from Harvard describe the situation: Even though weight discrimination has a negative impact on people’s health and wellness and results in unequal academic and job opportunities, there is only one state in […]
September 12, 2020 — Obesity has emerged as a significant risk factor for poor outcomes in patients infected with COVID-19. Based on how doctors and others in health care have previously treated patients with obesity or overweight conditions, my guess is that many will respond by declaring: “Well, it’s their own fault for being overweight!” In the spirit of […]
July 4, 2020 — “I’m tired of people suggesting I should feel guilty about racism,” someone told us recently. That sentiment is a near-perfect expression of white fragility. Many people enjoy the unearned privileges of being white in a racist society. But they don’t like to think about it. Likewise, many people who are fit, able, and thin enjoy […]
July 4, 2020 — Change comes in increments. Because humans are wired for bias, the bias against people at higher weights is especially hard to escape. But we take heart from explicit signs of such bias erased. Small victories count, too. This week, one such victory came when Bing took down an appalling entry for childhood obesity, filled with […]
June 5, 2020 — These are times that present us with extreme but false choices. Lives versus livelihoods. Chaos versus oppression. Add to that list an extreme, false dichotomy on obesity. At one extreme, we have two fat acceptance advocates advocates arguing that concern about obesity is nothing more than an expression of racism. At the other, a conservative […]
May 19, 2020 — Common ground is awfully hard to find right now. But here’s an easy one. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a D or an R or anything else. Fat shaming is never cool. It just happened last night when Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an off-handed remark about President Donald Trump being “morbidly obese.” Please, people. This […]
March 11, 2020 — Many people can agree on one thing about obesity. Certainly, it’s clear that we live in a toxic environment that promotes the condition. We can debate what elements are most responsible. Is it the food supply or the structures of our lives that keep us inactive? Then we have to consider toxic chemicals, drugs, and […]
March 2, 2020 — Today for Obesity Care Week, the focus is weight bias, which lies at the core of our problems with making progress against obesity. It’s the core problem because it frustrates us in two ways. First of all, intellectual bias about obesity itself leads some very smart people to think (and say) some very dumb things […]
