Posts Tagged ‘weight discrimination’

The vastness of Los Angeles is a perfect setting for the vast information on obesity that will be presented at ObesityWeek 2015 beginning Monday. With nearly 1,000 studies being presented in more than 200 scheduled sessions with 30 partner organizations, you might wonder where to start. Picking out a few things to recommend is an absurdly […]

A new study of public preferences for determining who gets bariatric surgery provides a remarkably clear answer. The public mainly cares about a patient’s lifestyle. The findings suggest a merit system for obesity care. “Lifestyle commitment was considered to be more than twice as important as any other criterion,” the authors found. These results are unsurprising […]

Why, in 2015, is it news that the mayor of Missoula, Montanna, has had bariatric surgery? In an open letter to the citizens of his hometown, John Engen says “I would rather not tell you about any of this,” but he acknowledges that his public profession left him little choice. He went on to say: I’m […]

Late last week, Arkansas unveiled a brand new 10-year plan to promote health instead of obesity. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson was responsible for re-branding the initiative, which was originally called the “obesity plan.” At a news conference, he explained: I wanted this to be a positive value set for the state of Arkansas. This is not […]

A recent study of self harm after bariatric surgery might be telling us more about how we care for people with obesity than it does about this surgical procedure. A new study in JAMA Surgery found an increased risk of intentional self harm after bariatric surgery. Junaid Bhatti and colleagues followed 8,815 people for three years before and […]

In a rather confusing commentary, an associate editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jennifer Graham, expresses her conviction that “it is possible to accept and encourage women without glorifying obesity.” She is obviously right but completely misguided in her apparent concern that “glorifying obesity” is a problem. Ask anyone who is living with obesity if they feel that […]

In Washington, DC, last night, another milestone in the emerging specialty of obesity medicine was marked. The Obesity Medicine Association celebrated its brand new identity for the group previously known as the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. For most people, the word “bariatric” is a confusing distraction. People know, more or less, what obesity is. Right now, […]

A good friend pointed us to a recent commentary that carries the title of “The Elephant in the (Class) Room: Campus Obesity.” The choice of words got our attention and lurking below the surface were a number of issues: weight bias, false assumptions about obesity, and problems with peer review are at the top of the list. The […]

As airlines test the limits of how small and cramped they can make their seats, the question is hard to dodge. At what point are they simply denying access to public transportation for people who don’t fit? Two organizations — Travelers United and FlyersRights — are waging a campaign to define a place to sit as a […]

The awkward news of the week has to be Governor Chris Christie issuing a reprimand for obesity to the man he appointed to lead the New Jersey National Guard. Christie has declined to discuss the matter, but his spokesman told the Washington Post that Christie has given Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff 90 days […]