Posts Tagged ‘weight discrimination’

A trustworthy doctor, in the eyes of someone with obesity, is likely to be one who will not judge them based upon their weight. This finding from researchers at Johns Hopkins builds further understanding of how weight bias — all too common in healthcare providers — erodes the likelihood of good clinical outcomes for people […]

The stream of daily insults, judgments, and humiliation that people with obesity encounter typically get lost in pious discussions about the problem of obesity and a naive preoccupation with preventing a condition that already affects two thirds of American adults. But a daily diary study of weight stigmatization in women recently published in the Journal […]

Workplace wellness is coming to terms with reality. A year ago, expectations were soaring that financial incentives would be just the ticket to persuade people to turn away from obesity. Sunny brochures were promising that programs like Healthy Blue Living would send everyone on their way to a healthy lifestyle and a BMI under 30. Never […]

The word obesity draws strong reactions that depend entirely upon context. Who’s saying it, who’s hearing it, and how it’s being used has a big effect on what’s heard when the word is spoken. Three different meanings for the word obesity stand out. Metabolic Disease. At its root, obesity is an objective medical term that describes a […]

Unhelpful would be a gentle description of unsolicited advice about simple solutions for young girls with excess weight. Carol Weston, an advice columnist for Girls’ Life, sparked some strong reactions on the subject in the New York Times this week. She took exception to the notion that girls might benefit from a break in exposure […]

Props to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Obesity Solutions Roundtable for honoring the principle of “nothing about us without us” yesterday. While much obesity policy is made without input from people directly affected, the IOM Roundtable devoted the entire day Tuesday to considering severe obesity, weight bias, and the impact upon people affected. Maria Caprigno […]

Exactly one year after an unsteady move to recognize obesity as a complex chronic disease, the American Medical Association (AMA) jumped on board to advocate for patient access to evidence-based obesity treatment. Resolution 111 passed without opposition: Resolved that our AMA, consistent with H-440.842 Recognition of Obesity as a Disease, work in concert with national […]

Fat shaming is a concept that didn’t even hit the radar of popular culture until 2012. Prior to that, you couldn’t find the smallest blip of interest in that term on the Web. “Weight bias” was the sterile academic term of art you could find in its place. Interest, as measured by Google, has grown […]

Does seeing obesity all around us change our perceptions of it? Seeing obesity is something that everyone assumes they can do, but the truth is that it’s not so simple as sizing people up visually. Taking someone’s height and weight doesn’t give you the whole story of their health. Yet we persist in focusing on the […]

A federal court ruling that obesity can be a protected disability provides yet another indication that employers who discriminate against competent employees with obesity are creating legal liabilities for their businesses. Joseph Whitaker sued his former employer, America’s Car Mart, claiming that the company “terminated his employment because of his disability and, in retaliation for the charge […]