Posts Tagged ‘weight stigma’

There’s a long history on the tricky business of celebrity endorsements for weight management. Years ago, the benchmark was the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, who became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers after her divorce from Prince Andrew. Proving much has changed in the popular conception of health and weight, the new benchmark is Serena […]

Mental health often, but not always, improves after metabolic and bariatric surgery. But new research tells us that this is not really a direct consequence of weight reduction. Instead, it seems that better mental health very likely comes from the reduction in experiences of weight stigma. In fact, Larissa McGarrity and colleagues found that the […]

“People with neurodiversity have a greater risk of obesity, yet the involvement in policy development and research of people with neurodiversity and obesity is minimal.” Stuart Flint, Joe Nadglowski, Kim Murray, and Julia Simonetti tell us in the latest issue of Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology that collecting data on lived experiences from people who face […]

It’s back. Weight talk about the U.S. President has returned, with reporters judging whether President Donald Trump’s reduced weight came “the hard way” or with “help.” The Daily Beast writes: “In the White House, there are whispers that the new slimline Trump used a little pharmaceutical help to lose 20 lbs since his last presidential […]

Seemingly limitless demand for obesity meds, botox, and lip fillers is driving robust growth for med spas in the U.S. The medical spa industry reports expansion from 1,600 locations in 2010 to more than 10,000 in 2023. The revenue for an average spa more than doubled to $1.4 million per spa. In 2023, that added […]

Two new papers offer a sharp focus on a stark gap at the intersection of healthcare and obesity – a dearth of empathy. Stuart Flint and colleagues explain the importance of understanding lived experiences with obesity for closing that gap: “The lived experience of obesity is clearly much more complex than the typical societal narrative, […]

A telehealth business has a slick, defiant commercial for their compounded weight loss medication ready to run during the Super Bowl tomorrow. More than a few doctors are definitely not amused. They are not the only ones. Two senators have written to the acting head of the FDA to say that caution and fair balance […]

One of the harms that weight stigma causes is the avoidance of medical care. But an unexpected side effect of GLP-1 therapy in persons with overweight or obesity may be increased engagement with healthcare. This insight comes from a new analysis of electronic health records for 711,783 persons. As the use of these medicines for […]

Are we on the way to ending weight stigma or is it more stubbornly persistent than we might imagine? We found a clue to the persistence of bias in health professionals in a new commentary published by the Washington Post. From his perch at the Harvard Medical School, Dr. Preston Lee writes: “Like many doctors, […]

Nope, says Dr. Alissa Chen. Medicare shouldn’t start covering obesity medicines. Her dad, 72, has obesity that began when he was in grad school and has persisted throughout his life. Now he has the cardiovascular disease that often results from untreated obesity. But no, she doesn’t want him to receive treatment with advanced medicines proven […]