Obesity Action Coalition Blog

OAC President and CEO Joe Nadglowski recently wrote a letter to the editor in response to the article published on Time.com titled, “Let’s Stop Being Passive About Fighting Obesity.”

Read his letter to the editor here.

Happy Halloween from the OAC! As a special treat today, we are offering SPOOKTACULAR SAVINGS!! Today, only until 10 pm EST, OAC Individual Membership is $5 off! This offer is good for both new memberships AND renewals! Take advantage of our SPOOKTACULAR SAVINGS now by clicking here.

Learn more about OAC membership here.

The Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University recently released a study they conducted on parents’ perceptions of common terms used to describe excess weight in children. This study was the first of its kind and they found that the language healthcare providers use when discussing a child’s weight with parents can reinforce negative weight-based stigma and jeopardize discussions about health.

Click here to read more information on this study.

As a parent, have you ever experienced weight stigma when visiting the doctor with your child? If so, how did you handle it? Did you end up switching to a new doctor? Please share your experiences with the OAC.

The popular prime-time entertainment show, Entertainment Tonight, is planning on airing a segment tomorrow, Thursday, October 27, 2011, featuring a reality TV star wearing a “fat suit,” in an effort to show how individuals affected by obesity are treated in the public and the issues they face.

While the OAC understands their attempt to create empathy, this segment does nothing to foster understanding, but instead showcases a disease with many factors that cannot even be addressed by appearance alone. The “fat suit” is only used as a stigmatizing symbol for a complex disease that is poorly understood by the public. Wearing a “fat suit” will not solve this problem, it will only further perpetuate the negative stigma associated with obesity. No other disease requires you to “wear” it to sympathize with those affected and empathy is not created by stigmatizing a disease.

For more information on this issue and to contact Entertainment Tonight as well as the reality TV star’s PR firm, please click here.

There has been a lot of buzz in the media within the last week regarding a study that was published about the possible benefits of individuals having weight-loss surgery. The study itself actually focused on individuals who had gastric bypass and the affect that had on their family’s overall health.

The study found that family members of those who had gastric bypass surgery adopted healthier eating habits and were more active one year after the weight-loss surgery. The article suggests this could be true for family members of individuals who had other procedures such as gastric banding as well.

Read the full article on this study here.

Please share your personal experiences with us. Have you had weight-loss surgery?  How did your surgery affect your family? By you setting the example and getting healthier, did your family members become more active and adopt a healthy diet too?

The Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) has unveiled a new initiative to combat weight bias and stigma, titled “Bias Busters.” The goal of “Bias Busters” is to engage the public in the conversation of weight bias and stigma, and raise awareness of the prevalence of the issue in today’s society. “Bias Busters” will highlight examples of weight bias that emerge in the news and media, and provide individuals with an opportunity to respond and let their voices be heard.

“Bias Busters” also provides information about the nature and extent of weight bias and invites the public to share their own examples of bias with the OAC through biasbusters@obesityaction.org.

For more information, read the full press release here.

The childhood obesity epidemic has gotten a lot of attention the last couple of years. Most of the attention it has received in the United States can be attributed to First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign to end childhood obesity in a generation; however, childhood obesity is a global epidemic, reaching all the corners of the world.

With all this attention on childhood obesity, individuals are coming up with new ways to get children moving and help them stay active and healthy. One of these new, innovative ideas to help keep children active is kid-friendly gyms that have exercise equipment, such as treadmills and weight benches, made especially for kids! The machines at these gyms are specifically designed for kids’ body sizes.

Some experts, such as psychologists, as well as some parents, think that these gyms go too far. They think that kid-sized exercise machines, such as treadmills and weight benches, are unnecessary for children and that old fashion play grounds and sports are a fine way for children to stay active.

Some kid-friendly gyms in Australia have exercise equipment for children as young as three years old! Click here to read an article about this issue with views from experts who disagree with these gyms.

Do you think gyms with child-sized exercise machines go too far? Or do you think this updated technology is necessary to keep the childhood obesity epidemic from becoming worse?

Would you rather see kids playing tag, hide-and-seek or hopscotch than working out with exercise equipment? Please share any comments you may have.

There has been a lot of talk in the media lately regarding New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his weight. Some members of the public and the media have been quick to criticize Christie because of his weight, suggesting it would impact his ability to serve in an elected leadership role.

This week, The Obesity Society released a statement, “The Obesity Society Position on Recent Criticism of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.” In this statement they say “A person’s body weight provides no indication of an individual’s character, credentials, talents, leadership or contributions to society. To suggest that Governor Christie’s body weight discounts and discredits his ability to be an effective political candidate is inappropriate, unjust and wrong.” They then go on to say, “The criticism of Governor Christie is an unfortunate example of the weight bias and stigmatization that is pervasive in North American society. The prevalence of weight discrimination in the United States has increased by 66 percent in the past decade, and is now on par with rates of racial discrimination.” Read the full statement here.

Please share your thoughts, comments and opinions on this important issue. Do you think an individual’s weight has any relevance to their intellect or will limit their potential leadership capabilities as an elected official? How do you feel about weight discrimination and stigma in such an environment? What do you think needs to be done to help put a stop to it?

For more information on the debate over Governor Christie and his weight and weight discrimination, read these two articles:

• Christie’s White House Bid Talk Spurs Obesity Debate 
• Step off, Haters. Chris Christie has Obesity Society on his Side

The OAC is currently exhibiting at The Obesity Society’s Annual Meeting in Orlando! We are booth 1017, so please stop by and say hello if you are attending this meeting! Also, several OAC Board Members are in attendance at this meeting as presenters!

OAC Board Member, Robert Kushner, MD, was recognized for his work with those affected by obesity at The Obesity Society’s Annual Meeting this morning, Monday, October 3, where he received the 2011 Atkinson-Stern Award for Distinguished Public Service! Congratulations Dr. Kushner!!

One of the biggest stories in the news this week was how a man affected by severe obesity was laid off from his job because of his weight. According to the article below, he “had been working at the plant for 15 years before he was fired. In 2008 and 2009, his work performance was rated as “very good” in annual evaluations, court papers said.”