Posts Tagged ‘bias’

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 […]

Presumably, the folks at Cancer Research UK (CRUK) knows something about cancer. Sadly, though, they’re proving that they don’t understand obesity. They’re spending a bundle of money to promote a false meme that equates obesity with smoking. It’s a clever lie, but it’s still a lie. Smoking is a behavior. Obesity is a condition. They […]

The ugliest aspect of weight bias finds its purest expression in bullying. Bullies have an instinct for finding a person’s vulnerability and using it to tear a person down. They are intentional and relentless. Bullying gives them power over their victim. Because our culture has an unhealthy obsession with thinness, weight bias enables bullies. It […]

Obesity is quite a problem for pets as well as humans, so a growing number of veterinary medicine organizations are developing guidance on the subject. Around the world, 25 international medical veterinary organizations have endorsed the position of the Global Pet Obesity Initiative. In short, veterinarians around the world are recognizing that obesity is a […]

Late in April, folks in Leeds created a bit of a stir. They told the world they had achieved a “notable decrease” in childhood obesity. Better yet, some of the biggest gains were among the most disadvantaged children entering primary school. Headlines endorsed the program deployed in Leeds. But now, two months later, skeptics are […]

Disparities are everywhere you look in healthcare. But they’re especially glaring if you take a moment to look at effects, healthcare, and policies related to obesity. Speaking at the Harvard Blackburn Obesity Course in Boston yesterday, Fatima Cody Stanford explained: Excess weight in racial and ethnic minorities is not just a cultural phenomenon. Research points […]

This week the Telegraph published a very touching essay by Tanya Gold, describing her heartfelt concern for the health of mannequins. Specifically, she’s concerned about a Nike mannequin she’s diagnosed with obesity: She is immense, gargantuan, vast. She heaves with fat. She is, in every measure, obese, and she is not readying herself for a […]

Fruit juice, soda, cigarettes, and vapes. They’re all killing us, but we keep consuming them. Tobacco and sugar are close neighbors on the slippery slope to poor health and premature death. Right? Well, not really. News and journal articles might give you an impression that sugar and tobacco are very similar bad actors. We hear […]

Objectivity is tough. For a case in point, let’s look at how people are processing new data from Kevin Hall and colleagues on ultra-processed foods. It’s important. For the first time, we have good data to say that these foods can cause weight gain. Before we had speculation. Now we have good, experimental evidence. Some […]

The Veteran’s Administration runs the biggest medical care program for obesity in world. It’s the MOVE! program. Because 41 percent of veterans are living with obesity, this disease has enormous cost implications for the VA system. Not because providing obesity care is expensive. Rather, it’s because the health costs of so much obesity – both […]