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A Book That Doesn’t Do Much

Pat Hartman June 13, 2023 No Comments

The cover art: Why is the one lady peeking up the other lady’s skirt? The question: “Why Not Stay Fat?” is hardly a question worthy of Socrates and Aristotle. The response is usually the same — “Why not, indeed?” — because to change one’s habits is, for most humans, an excruciatingly painful effort, and one not undertaken lightly.

The slogan: “Be happy with who and what you are.” Unlike the cover designer, we use — correctly — the double, not single, quotation marks. Was the editor taking a nap?

“Be happy with who and what you are.”

The advice offered by the book’s cover is widely agreed to be a legit concept. In one of those weird paradoxes of human psychology, self-acceptance is recognized as the first step toward any possibility of achievable or lasting change. There is no reason to quarrel with that basic premise. On the other hand, the line is deceptively and dangerously simplistic. Surely, a person who self-identifies as a child abuser or a serial killer is not supposed to be happy about it.

More useful is the concept of “Accept who and what you are.” Acceptance sets a much lower bar than happiness. This is why in AA meetings (although it is not mandatory) a speaker will probably stand up and say “My name is Bill Wilson and I’m an alcoholic.” They don’t say, “… and I’m happy to be an alcoholic.”

Some people want to become different. Some want to stay as they are, but quit caring about the fact that others want them to be different. As a vintage television series used to say, “There are eight million stories in the Naked City.” Still, in the field of healing, despite the ubiquitous presence of unique stories, it is almost universally acknowledged that acceptance is the necessary precursor to change.

Run that by me again…

These days, it is very hard to distinguish satire from reality. With all due respect to authors everywhere, sometimes you just have to wonder why a book exists. The one pictured here is by Wayne Lambert, who appears to be a Westerner based in the Middle East. Full disclosure: Childhood Obesity News has not seen the book. Discussion of it is based on the public relations materials, dispersed to the relatable public under the author’s byline.

A good first impression has not been made. That rough draft was not proofread even once. Another self-generated puff piece was replete with grating repetition and regrettable (ranging to woeful) lapses in grammar. The CAPS LOCK key stayed stuck for whole sentences at a time. Some information that was researched years ago has vanished from the internet, like www.wholebodyworkshop.com. So it cannot be proven that there was once a version of this piece that ended… “I have already self published all the books that I have wrote.”

In a piece currently still posted, another simplistic idea appears: “My philosophy is to stick to the basics and the rest will follow very easily with little effort… just focus!” As Grandma used to say, if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Some people are born without the ability to focus, and others have it knocked out of them, one way or another, by the vicissitudes of life.

(To be continued…)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Pubmatch Profile,” Web.archive.org, 2016
Source: “Why Not Stay Fat?,” Booktopia, undated
Image from Booktopia

A Book That Explains a Lot

Pat Hartman June 12, 2023 No Comments

Roxane Gay’s memoir, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, was not written with the aim of motivating the reader. When the author toured in support of the book, a college newspaper wrote,

Her struggles aren’t meant to be a success story, but a true story to give people a sense that they aren’t alone… Gay sets the record straight from the beginning of her talk. The story of her body is not a story of triumph or motivation. It’s not a weight loss memoir either.

That audience motivation is not her purpose must come as a welcome relief to young adults who are always being counseled about what to do with their lives. Gay says,

I don’t want to pretend I’m on some triumphant, uplifting journey. I don’t want to pretend that everything is okay. I’m living with what happened, moving forward without forgetting, moving forward without pretending I am unscarred.

In the course of exorcising personal demons, a terribly difficult and challenging writing experience became a personal case study and a philosophy textbook. Gay’s observations about feminism and misogyny range widely and cut deeply. In the same way that a person with paralyzed legs must verify the existence of wheelchair ramps at venues, a person with super-morbid obesity has to check out the conditions before venturing forth into the world, and Gay exposes those potential problems to the reader.

She does not care for “reality” shows about makeovers and weight loss, or this world where female celebrities’ weights are “tracked like stocks because their bodies are, in their line of work, their personal stock, the physical embodiment of market value.” She does not love a society where, although fat people themselves cannot lawfully be made to disappear, it’s perfectly okay to wage war on the fat cells that just happen to live inside those people. She vehemently deplores the societal myth that “our truest selves are thin women hiding in our fat bodies like imposters, usurpers, illegitimates.”

What’s in there?

The fortunate humans who don’t cope with obesity in their own bodies or their own families usually do not have an accurate picture of what it’s all about. Here’s the tricky part — among the people who do struggle with obesity, they get that way from a lot of different causes. Some people write books about their “weight loss journeys.” Gay openly admits that while various words might describe her journey, “over” is not one of them.

The Atlantic reviewer Adrienne Green says the author gives readers “some emotional insight into the unrelenting nature of trauma.” And she doesn’t want to call herself a survivor because she doesn’t “want to diminish the gravity of what happened.” The more precise and accurate term is victim, and she claims it.

But what did happen? The origin story of her obesity goes back to a violent sexual assault at age 12. Tara Haelle wrote for the Association of Health Care Journalists,

I recommend “Hunger” to health journalists: Gay offers insight into experiencing two of the most incredibly challenging, complex and pressing issues of our time. It requires a far higher level of empathy, understanding and nuance than most issues about which we write.

After that event, the author wrote, she “ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe.” She needed to transform her physical self into “a safe harbor rather than a small, weak vessel.” In its vulnerability, the body had betrayed her, and the need to make it unassailable became her strongest drive. Eventually, the painful secrets came tumbling out:

My family’s constant pressure to lose weight made me stubborn, even though the only person I was really hurting was myself. The constant pressure made me refuse to lose weight to punish these people who claimed to love me but wouldn’t accept me as I was…

I was swallowing my secrets and making my body expand and explode.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body,” Harper, 2017
Source: “The Boldness of Roxane Gay’s Hunger,” TheAtlantic.com, 06/13/17
Source: “Towerlight News,” TheTowerlight.com, 10/09/17
Source: “Roxane Gay’s ‘Hunger’ a worthy, perhaps necessary, read for medical journalist,” HealthJournalism.org, 02/18/19
Image by Eva Blue/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 9

Pat Hartman June 9, 2023 No Comments

The current topic has morphed from professionals talking with patients to parents talking with children. The previous post discussed some of the suggestions made by Natasha Hinde, Parents editor at HuffPost U.K., who had gathered ideas from professional sources. The ideas are simple, but might not be easy.

How is a grownup supposed to transmit to children the notion that eating a variety of foods containing essential vitamins and minerals is important? How is an adult expected to convey the concept that it is necessary to move the body around, put some stress on it, and make a few demands of it?

The sophisticated humor of the real estate market holds that only three factors matter — location, location, and location. Here is a new maxim: In the realm of parenting, only three things matter — example, example, and example. One of Hinde’s suggestions is,

Try and make sure your child sees you eating a range of foods and being active yourself.

At the same time, you’ll be setting an example not only for the kids but for other family members and friends, who may develop similar aspirations toward becoming exemplary mature role models. Keep in mind that an unadorned example is much more powerful than any attempt to beef up an example with authoritarianism.

Especially in the earliest years, children absorb and reflect what they see the adults doing, without giving it any thought. It is not even necessary to say, “You must eat vegetables because I do.” In fact, it is not advised, because when kids get to the age of thinking about stuff, a parent is likely to hear some version of, “Why do I have to do something just because you do it?” Or even, “Get lost, I don’t have to do anything just because you do it.” But the power of a silent, unspoken example is very difficult for even the most surly adolescent to wage war against.

Positivity

The best advice is to frame everything positively. It’s good to eat vegetables — not because they keep the extra pounds away, but because you become strong and healthy. It’s good to take the dog for a walk — not because it will prevent you from getting fat, but because your body will perform every one of its functions better.

This idea might take some study, and could be a lot of fun:

Talk to your child about what they see online, on social media and TV — explain that lighting, make-up and photo-editing is used to make people look different from how they are in real life.

Then, there are several items of advice that should be universal. If we teach them that “everyone deserves respect, whatever their body size, shape or ability,” our children will have no reason to feel anxious that we might condemn them for their body size, shape, or ability. Some things are easy to suggest but hard to do, and one of them is keeping our lips zipped when a morbidly obese person shows up on the scene, whether in real life or in media. We don’t have to say, “What is she wearing, an army surplus tent?” We can exert self-control and continue to set a good example.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “How To Talk To Kids About Body Weight (Without Making It A Big Deal,” HuffingtonPost.co.uk, 05/29/23
Image by Cambodia4kids.org/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 8

Pat Hartman June 8, 2023 No Comments

The previous post referenced author Roxane Gay, who by medical definition is considered to be “super morbidly obese,” but who prefers to call herself “fat.” She is highly critical of both the medical community’s treatment of extremely large people, and what she perceives as a public health “hysteria” over the “obesity epidemic.”

Still, it causes questions about how it feels to be someone who is, in the eyes of medical practitioners, even more dangerously overweight. Does patient-first language actually make that much of a difference? Rather than “super-super morbidly obese person,” is “person with super-super morbid obesity” really more acceptable?

Gentle suggestions

For HuffingtonPost.com, Natasha Hinde discussed the difficulty of being a parent in the obesity-language dilemma. The key concepts are to introduce these discussions gradually and casually. Don’t make a big deal out of it. You want your kid to absorb and remember this as enlightenment, not torture. Hopefully, a child will feel that it is okay to talk about weight and to ask questions. The main goal is to boost their sense of self-esteem and well-being.

And it’s not as if you are introducing a new topic that has never been explored before. The writer says,

[C]hances are they’ll be hearing about weight from lots of other places anyway, whether that’s school, TV or online. So at least by having these conversations yourself, you can help them see that what they hear about weight is not always right.

Even when it’s right, it might make zero impression. You can tell them they might get diabetes or high blood pressure, but since when have children been attuned to worries about future illness? They don’t even care about what happens five minutes from now, when they have climbed to the roof and are about ready to jump off it.

Hinde recommends a suggestion list from experts at the British Dietetic Association and the University of Bath. They point out that if you criticize anyone’s weight, even your own, kids will assume that you are also condemning their extra pounds.

When you greet a relative or acquaintance, avoid weight-related comments, even those that seem positive, like “You’ve dropped a few pounds!” Even if you know it’s what the adult wants to hear, too bad — just leave the subject alone. You don’t want kids to get the message that weight matters so much, it’s the first and foremost thing on everybody’s (or anybody’s) mind.

(To be continued …)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Roxane Gay’s ‘Hunger’ a worthy, perhaps necessary, read for medical journalists,” HealthJournalism.org, 02/18/19
Source: “How To Talk To Kids About Body Weight (Without Making It A Big Deal),” HuffingtonPost.co.uk, 05/29/23
Image by Maxime De Ruyck/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 7

Pat Hartman June 7, 2023 No Comments

In ancient Latin, “super” meant above, over, on top of, or beyond — pretty much the same as the German “uber” or the recent American slang usage of “extra.” In itself, “super” does not connote positivity or negativity, but only intensifies the adjective it is there to modify. “Grandpa is super-nice today” or “Grandpa is super-grouchy today” — it works either way. Super can also become part of a noun. There are super-heroes, and super-villains.

But in contemporary America, some people have a lot of trouble with the word. One of them is Roxane Gay, who in 2017 published a book titled Hunger. The author is a 6’3″ woman whose weight once topped out at 577 pounds, and who seems to have usually hovered around 500 lbs. Her book included such anecdotes as what might happen on an errand run:

At the grocery store people make commentary on what’s in your cart. They’ll take food out of your cart.

Random members of the public will also offer unsolicited advice, like suggestions to get some exercise, as if it were an exotic concept to which she had never been exposed. Writer Derek Hawkins tells us how, in the course of standard promotional activities, Gay was a guest on a podcast called Mamamia.

As part of the introductory material, creative director Mia Freedman shared with listeners the kind of questions that enter the mind of a show producer who strives to be a good host. Would the elevator be able to handle the job of bringing the guest upstairs? Will the distance from the elevator to the studio be too far for her to walk? Is there a chair on the premises that is both comfortable and adequate for the task?

Wrong move

In acquainting her audience with the sort of obstacles that the guest encountered daily, Freedman meant to contribute to the general theme of the interview. But Gay went public with her reaction of being appalled, and described the situation as “disgusting and shameful.”

By way of introduction, the interviewer described the author by the official medical term, “super morbidly obese.” Some people are offended by the phrase, which is legit medical diagnostic language. But it gets even worse.

The incident caused a degree of furor because, among other things, the interviewer had expressed doubt that there could be a classification beyond super morbidly obese. But there is, actually, an additional category called “super super morbidly obese.” Yes, two “supers.”

The World Health Organization defines adult obesity as a BMI ≥30 kg/m2. However, recent spikes in the disease have prompted additional classifications, including severe obesity as a BMI ≥40 kg/m2, super obesity as a BMI ≥50 kg/m2, and super-super obesity as a BMI ≥60 kg/m2.

Aside from the many problems of everyday life and health, super-super obese surgical patients are more challenging to oxygenate, ventilate, monitor, and anesthetize properly during the procedure. They are more prone to experience postoperative complications, and more difficult to appropriately prescribe pain medication for. All this is difficult but impossible. Experts say,

Although individual facilities worldwide vary in strategy, a major consideration should be utilizing this affordable technology in these higher risk patients as a best practice standard.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “ What That Roxane Gay Controversy Says About Taking Up Space As A Fat Woman,” Refinery29.com, 06/13/17
Source: “Roxane Gay blasts women’s website’s ‘cruel and humiliating remarks about her size,” WashingtonPost.com, 06/14/23
Source: “The patient with obesity and super-super obesity: Perioperative anesthetic considerations,” NIH.gov, 06/20/22

Obesity and Language, Part 6

Pat Hartman June 6, 2023 No Comments

Readers will remember Rebecca Puhl, Ph.D. (currently deputy director for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health) from the landmark 2011 study indicating the need for increasing awareness of weight bias in both news reporting and professional communications.

When children are exposed to bullying, body-shaming, and even negative language, journalist Jennifer Gerson says,

Puhl’s research has found that […] they are then put at higher risk for developing depressive symptoms, anxiety, lower self-esteem and worsened body image. In adolescents, this can translate into higher rates of suicidal thoughts and substance abuse.

Both boys and girls report experiencing emotional distress when they are stigmatized about their weight… but girls report experiencing a higher level of intensity of emotional distress as a result.

Much has been said by Childhood Obesity News about the latest guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Eating Disorders has responded vigorously. That organization has submitted a request to the AAP to revise its guidelines, this time with input from mental health professionals, which none of the original co-authors apparently were.

“Just grow up”

While the situation has improved in some ways, at the same time there has been a backlash against what some critics regard as an overdose of sensitivity. Lawrence M. Krauss encourages people to take responsibility for their own responses to the things they see and hear:

Without context and interpretation, and unless one chooses to internalize them, words are impotent, and that gives us power over them, not vice versa. We may be influenced by what we read or hear, but we own our responses, including our actions, which, after all, speak louder than words…

The trauma may be very real, but the underlying psychological issues and healing processes are ones that you, not others, need to take primary ownership of. You have not been victimized; you have been traumatized.

That emotional sensation of having been traumatized, he believes, is something that lies under the control of the individual — but nobody wants to hear it. Many people who feel damaged do not, for whatever reasons, want to take ownership of their psychological health. Many people who sympathize with the traumatized want to find solutions in legislation, censorship, and other punishments for the offenders.

Krauss holds that the solutions are more likely to be found in a rational discussion “and even ridicule,” and for backup he cites comedian/philosopher George Carlin. (Not recommended, by the way. Carlin’s fat humor is brutal, excessive, abrasive, and occasionally X-rated.)

Basically, Krauss proposes that the inherent negative influence of certain words is a myth, because they have no power except that which we give them, and we can choose not to grant them that power:

[I]n a world where words are treated as if they are both weapons and attackers, and where we shield ourselves from them for fear that they might induce feelings in us that we don’t like, we don’t become the victors — we only further victimize ourselves.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Language for treating childhood obesity carries its own health risks to kids, experts say,” 19thnews.org, 03/09/23
Source: “Words Don’t Matter,” Quillette.com, 03/13/23
Image by Thunderchild 7/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 5

Pat Hartman June 5, 2023 No Comments

We mentioned the coalition of professionals who are trying to make a difference in an important area. Apparently, many who deal with members of the obese public employ a communication style that tends to alienate prospective patients and clients, sending them off into the wilderness of self-treatment by dubious methods, or even no treatment at all.

An ever-increasing number of pros hope to build a better public narrative around childhood obesity, one that reflects current scientific knowledge rather than knee-jerk victim-blaming. Sadly, in the view of these authors at least, obesity-related professionals of all kinds seem weirdly slow to catch on. Apparently, patient-centered language is not making much headway. Consequently…

[…] there is a need for extensive and continued education of all individuals who interact with children and adolescents with obesity across multiple settings, to minimize bias and stigma in their interactions. These individuals include healthcare staff, caregivers, teachers, coaches, peers, siblings, parents and families, who may, either directly or indirectly, contribute to stigmatization.

The Obesity Society allied itself with other organizations based in the U.S., Canada, and Europe to condemn stigmatizing language and encourage an overhaul of the lingo. This is noteworthy because, for the first time, scientific societies and major international organizations have made a point of joining all their voices.

The Obesity Society’s Aaron Kelly, Ph.D., says, “Using people-first language is a seemingly small, yet powerful way, to set the right tone for kids and their families.” But what is people-first language? One example is “people with obesity,” which is preferred over “obese people.” It demonstrates that the speaker is putting the person first, not their disease. This is one of the many areas in which the latest American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines faced a hostile reaction.

Words

Jennifer Gerson reported that one concern people have with the new guidelines is the language:

[…] primarily, the very use of the terms “overweight” and “obesity,” words that research has found to be some of “the most stigmatizing terms.”

The guidelines have prompted a host of questions from experts on children’s general health versus the long-term effects that weight stigma can have on kids. That means taking into account how words like “overweight” and “obese” themselves could hurt children not just today, but in the future. Gerson wrote,

[C]onversations about weight and health with children can be fraught, especially for girls, who disproportionately feel the effects of weight stigma as they internalize messaging from their peers and from their consumption of media at a point in their lives where they are forming their sense of self.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Championing the use of people-first language in childhood overweight and obesity to address weight bias and stigma,” Wiley.com, 04/01/23
Source: “TOS endorses global editorial on people-first language and pediatric obesity,” EurekAlert.org, 04/05/23
Source: “Language for treating childhood obesity carries its own health risks to kids, experts say,” 19thnews.org, 03/09/23
Image by Quinn Dombrowski/CC BY-SA 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 4

Pat Hartman June 2, 2023 No Comments

Sadly, a nine-author paper from last year found “discriminatory language used by peers and adults, which may be compounded by use within the medical community and in published research.” Those writers analyzed 300 articles from PubMed and found that “only 21.7% were adherent to PCL guidelines.” The abbreviation refers to Person-Centered Language.

Over the past half-century or so, only the manufacturing community seems to have learned a thing or two. Today, we would probably not see an ad like the one shown here. In the 1950s, L. Gidding & Co. sold the Chubbette clothing line through “stores that care.” In addition to a catalog of the offerings, also available by mail was…

“Pounds and Personality” — a booklet for parents of a chubby girl (understanding her problems, talent development, shyness, tactless remarks, the “game” of dieting, etc.) Written by Dr. Gladys Andrews…

Given the negative effects of stigma among children with obesity, it is imperative to advocate for PCL use within the medical community. Increased stringency by journal editors and publishers may be the next step in this process.

More PCL

A recent multi-author paper bears the very explicit title, “Championing the use of people-first language in childhood overweight and obesity to address weight bias and stigma,” and is described as a joint statement from 8 different European, Canadian, and international organizations. They are talking about the realms of clinical practice, research, education, and advocacy communications, and in every area they hope to popularize PCL, also known as person-first and or patient-first language:

The use of compassionate, patient-centred language and imagery is considered a core strategy for addressing weight bias and obesity-related stigma… Biases are largely based on misconceptions of obesity being the result of individual weakness and consequently being an individual’s responsibility to address…

On the contrary, obesity is “a disease with complex biological, genetic, psychosocial and environmental drivers.” Regarding the psychosocial component, children at every stage of development are vulnerable to trauma from being shamed, name-called, teased, scolded, excluded, ridiculed, etc. because of their physical size. Going into excruciating detail about the damage that can be done, the authors list the…

[…] serious lifelong consequences including psychological distress, poorer social and academic outcomes, and adverse physical consequences impacting personality development, self-image, self-esteem and confidence, and overall quality of life.

Regarding such serious outcomes, it is to be hoped that most people would not want to be at cause. Through Wiley.com and whatever other channels are available, the members of these organizations hope to influence others, including “academic institutions, public health-authorities, professional organizations including healthcare, media, public health services and governing bodies.”

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Use of person-centred language among scientific research focused on childhood obesity,” NIH.gov, May 2022
Source: “Chubettes, the badly-named clothing line for overweight girls, 1957,” BoingBoing.net, 11/18/11
Source: “Championing the use of people-first language in childhood overweight and obesity to address weight bias and stigma,” Wiley.com, 04/01/23

Obesity and Language, Part 3

Pat Hartman June 1, 2023 No Comments

We’ve been looking at a 2015 paper that explored the pros and cons of policing the language around obesity, and speculated on how better methods might be implemented. The authors recognized that some people with obesity (and in the fat acceptance movement) still prefer to be designated “fat,” and explained the psychology behind the choice.

They compared this to similar efforts by human rights activists to reclaim and own certain other items of terminology, and restore them to public acceptance:

[R]eclamation of the word as a neutral descriptor aims to counter the negative stereotypes that have become associated with it, and normalize the existence of fat bodies. Thus, identifying as “fat” becomes an act of empowerment and a marker of self-respect and unity.

Despite caring very much about creating positive change, the authors were also cautiously ambivalent, asking the editors of professional journals not to be hardcore adamant about using person-first terminology in every instance, because it “precludes more nuanced consideration of the implications of language use.”

We are currently at a moment in history where this fight has only just begun, and we are bound to witness considerable changes in the way we think about bodies, and acceptable terms for those bodies, in the years to come.

So here we are, almost a decade later, still engaged in debates and disagreements over person-centered language, or PCL. For ConscienHealth.org, Fatima Cody Stanford and Ted Kyle point out that an important starting point is language that meets the standard of being respectful, at the very minimum.

Without a modicum of reasonableness, there might not even be any kind of a start at all, because:

Language can set the tone for productive dialogue with youths and parents or it can prevent dialogue from ever happening. Research suggests that a physician labeling a child with stigmatizing language can lead to parents seeking a different physician or avoiding medical appointments for their children altogether.

“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” Since ancient times, this has been universally true of humans. For any health professional or therapist, there can be no helping if the prospective patient or client is turned off within the first few minutes of the initial meeting. And one causal factor of immediate rejection is careless talk. This article says,

Using people-first language means that the patient comes first and obesity surfaces as only a medical condition. Physicians should take cues from patients and parents about acceptable terminology. Motivational interviewing skills can help in finding constructive language… But in no case does labeling a patient as an obese child enhance a child’s self-concept.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “What’s in a Word? On Weight Stigma and Terminology,” NIH.gov, 10/05/15
Source: “Why Is Respectful Care for Childhood Obesity Remarkable?,” ConscienHealth.org, undated

Obesity and Language, Part 2

Pat Hartman May 31, 2023 No Comments

There is still more to say about the subjects broached in yesterday’s gleanings from a paper titled, “What’s in a Word? On Weight Stigma and Terminology,” published back in 2015 when the topic was starting to heat up. There seemed to be some hope that all the larger-bodied people would agree about preferred verbiage. But the authors point out a very troubling obstacle. It is one thing to decide that the target group should be allowed to pick their own label (in which case they would first probably elect to ditch the hostile phrase “target group”).

Here is the fly in that particular ointment:

[T]his population is far from homogeneous, and individuals who do engage with such organizations will be a self-selecting group who are seeking a medical solution…..

[A] coalition of size-acceptance and fat rights groups have challenged the claim that these organizations speak for larger people as a whole, criticizing the top-down setting of the terminology agenda and the absence of grassroots input…

[R]esearch on the preferences of this group has been skewed toward treatment-seeking populations, and therefore the findings of such research cannot be regarded as representing a “consensus.”

Even if the scientific community had been magnanimous about letting all people with obesity vote on what they want to be called, how would they reach the ones who never go to doctors because they don’t want to be body-shamed or have their concerns ignored once again?

Let every voice be heard

Actually, thanks to the Internet, there is a way to find out what the alienated and disaffected members of the public are thinking — through many varieties of social media. That research could be pretty uncomfortable for medical professionals who had not previously given much consideration to their vocabularies. And anyway, the report admitted, “consensus within a socially marginalized group can neither be realistically expected nor made to serve as a prerequisite for moving toward social justice and equality.”

The complications multiplied when studies got underway that attempted to more fairly discover individual preferences. One such attempt asked how each individual would like a doctor to break the news, “You are at least 50 pounds over recommended weight.” This time, two factors made progress difficult:

First, the questionnaire prompts participants a priori to think of weight as a problem. Secondly, the 11 terms used in the Weight Preference Questionnaire were chosen after consultation with patients in treatment-seeking settings. Thus, neither the list of words generated, nor the scenario used in the exercise, is judgment-free.

The least acceptable words were found to be “obesity” and “fat.” Except in Australia, where four out of five adults were fine with both “fat” and “overweight.” Go figure!

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “What’s in a Word? On Weight Stigma and Terminology,” NIH.gov, 10/05/15
Image by Kilian Evang/CC BY 2.0

A Book That Doesn’t Do Much

“Be happy with who and what you are.”

Run that by me again…

A Book That Explains a Lot

What’s in there?

Obesity and Language, Part 9

Positivity

Obesity and Language, Part 8

Gentle suggestions

Obesity and Language, Part 7

Wrong move

Obesity and Language, Part 6

“Just grow up”

Obesity and Language, Part 5

Words

Obesity and Language, Part 4

More PCL

Obesity and Language, Part 3

Obesity and Language, Part 2

Let every voice be heard

Profiles: Kids Struggling with Weight

The Book

About Dr. Robert A. Pretlow

Presentations

Food & Health Resources