Posts Tagged ‘weight discrimination’

What the heck do people mean when they say “surgery can be effective as a last resort for obesity?” Whatever their point, they need to stop it. That pernicious idiom cropped up this week in reporting on a new position paper regarding bariatric surgery in children and adolescents with severe obesity. The position paper was straightforward. The […]

Social exclusion is one of the prime ways that people experience the bias and stigma associated with obesity. New research published in Eating Behaviors helps explain why this is so damaging. The research also provides clues for strategies to relieve the problem. In a randomized, controlled study of emotional responses to social exclusion, researchers from […]

Punitive wellness programs are coming under increasing scrutiny. “Wellness or else is the trend,” according to Jon Robinson of Salveo Partners, a workplace health consulting organization. According to statistics from the National Business Group on Health, two-thirds of large companies use incentives to encourage employees to participate in their wellness programs. And nearly a quarter […]

Some of the most remarkable agents of change in obesity gathered in San Antonio this past weekend to celebrate progress and set the coming year’s goals for the work of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC). 2014 was a year when OAC set new records for participation in its annual conference for people affected by obesity […]

The reaction to objective data about whether people see themselves or their children as having obesity evokes a bit of paternalism from some observers. To us, it represents an important fork in the road for our response to obesity. The paternalistic reaction is an impulse to tell people what they oughta wanna do. Good luck with that. […]

The subject of disabilities arising from obesity seems to bring out strong hostilities toward people with obesity that obscure rational thought. In a editorial on the subject, the Chicago Tribune last week argued that people who have disabilities as a result of obesity should not be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The trouble is […]

Every picture tells a story and most often, that story is more powerful than words. Unfortunately, many of the images attached to obesity evoke hostility toward people with obesity. In research from 2014, Paula Brochu and colleagues from Yale found that “simply eliminating stigmatizing media portrayals of obesity may help reduce bias.” Likewise, Nova Hinman […]

A learning curve is leading more companies to implement wellness done well. These companies are walking away from sticks and carrots. Instead, they are constructing programs that simply make it easier for people to improve their health. Evidence-Based Treatment. Instead of telling people to go away and lose weight, thoughtful employers are increasingly pairing a […]

Is obesity a disability? Do laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities cover people with obesity? The answers to these questions are subtle and they are changing. A new ruling from the highest court in the European Union may mean that employers and business will have to do more to accommodate people with obesity. And it’s […]

Will wellness kill Obamacare? Some observers are fretting that unless HR departments get to bypass concerns of the EEOC about discriminatory wellness programs, then “the whole point of the Affordable Care Act” will be subverted. The Business Roundtable — an organization of big business CEOs — is hopping mad that the EEOC has sued Honeywell because […]