Category: Obesity

Do you have an anti-fat bias?

When Linda said she wanted to weigh 150 pounds, her doctors balked. In the fall of 2020, Linda weighed over twice that number. Her obesity was causing her debilitating knee pain, leading her to miss work as a mammography technician, a job she loved. Wa…

Diabetes Drug’s New Weight Loss Formula Fuels Cost-Benefit Debate

Health plans’ coverage of the medication, branded as Wegovy — which has a $1,300-a-month price tag — is not a sure thing.

Be someone who sees the person beyond the BMI

You are about to see my patient in some acute setting. Maybe it’s the emergency department. Maybe it’s an ENT consult or ortho. In any case, you just met her. You do not have much of a relationship with her and are just evaluating one part …

A case for changing the way we talk about obesity

You are finger. No, I have fingers. You are leg. No, I have legs. You are pancreas. No, I have a pancreas. You are fat. Hmm … Now let’s try this with disease processes: You are diabetes. No, I have diabetes. You are cancer. No, I have cancer. You are a…

Medical gaslighting due to weight stigma and bias is harmful: a viral TikTok study

“We need to stop weight shaming people & not make them fearful of seeing a Dr., but we also need to find a supportive way to talk about obesity.” – TikTok commenter “You’ve got to get on TikTok,” everyone kept saying. Launching a web-based li…

Weight gain during the pandemic: An obesity medicine specialist explains [PODCAST]

“The impact of the pandemic on the lives of Americans will be felt for years, if not generations, to come. This includes its alarming effect on health behaviors that contribute to the already formidable challenge of obesity in this country. Now, …

The need for a standardized approach to weight loss in medicine

Any social media platform can boast an abundance of practical health and weight loss recommendations, whether scientifically accurate or not. Many professional athletes and companies are eager to sell their plans for a premium price and advertise them …

Lessons from COVID-19 about the obesity epidemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our ineffective approach to the obesity epidemic in the United States. I believe COVID-19 would have claimed fewer lives if we had healthier patients and less obesity. According to the CDC, “obesity may tripl…

The synergy in obesity and cancer

Over two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, and approximately 88 million American adults have pre-diabetes. More than 84 percent of those with pre-diabetes are not even aware that they have it. Both obesity and type 2 diabet…

When it comes to weight stigma in children and teens, let’s meet in the middle

The divisive reaction to the recent New York Times’ opinion piece by Aubrey Gordon titled, “Leave Fat Kids Alone: The ‘war on childhood obesity’ has only caused shame,” highlights the two extremes in our society’s current approach to addressing t…