Fat Chicks Rule

Lying to create an epidemic

As of now, there has never been a diet drug that has worked in the long run. Many have dangerous side effects (including death). That being said, apparently the drug industry feels that they may give up on obesity drugs if the FDA would stop being so rigid on them.

They point to obesity drugs, where Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics and Vivus have hit roadblocks in gaining approval for their diet pills because of potential safety concerns.

I say the FDA isn't rigid enough. Diet pills don't work, and have dangerous side effects. This is something the drug industry needs to give up on. Diabetes is slightly different. A pill that would cure diabetes would be wonderful, but according to Consumer reports, current diabetes medications are no better or safer than the ones they replaced. 

On to (or should I say back to) other liars, my favorite topic of the last three posts, namely fat hating Children's Health Care of Atlanta (CHOA). They are under more fire this week for using healthy fat actors to portray poor disease ridden obese children.  (There is also a story about NYC diabetes ad that photoshopped off a healthy person's leg.) Perhaps because they couldn't find any fat actors who had these diseases. 

Bioethicists and health communicators say untruthful testimonials in public health campaigns are wrong, even if their messages are, in a broad sense, advertisements. Falseness in these ads loses the public's trust, which is critical in public health initiatives, experts say.

Even pro-weight loss groups such as the Rudd Center disapproves of the ads.

Georgia’s “Strong4Life” campaign to address childhood obesity is a well-meaning but likely counterproductive attempt to address one of the most important public health priorities in our country. It is critical to address childhood obesity, but the Strong4Life campaign takes a misguided approach that may inadvertently worsen obesity and harm the very people who are most in need of help.

This highly visible and well-financed campaign ($50 million) intends to motivate parents and children to take action on childhood obesity by using images and testimonials of obese youth (hired actors) who are portrayed with “warning” messages...

I also want to thank them for pointing out the 50 million dollar price tag. In 2009, it was estimated that 11 percent of Georgia's children had no health insurance. I'm pretty sure that 50 mil would help cover that gap. Of give the money to me and I'll start a non-for-profit insurance company called FatCo whose sole purpose would be to give health insurance to people deemed "not healthy enough for insurance".

They have also come under major fire by the  Size acceptance community who have taken them on with a campaign called "I stand" Stand4kids, which I mentioned it briefly last week when the Tumblr site was only a handful of photos. SInce then, it has grown by leaps and bounds to over a hundred photos and more are being added each day. 

And in other news about liars, fat hating Whole Foods who claims you can be thin, healthy, and beautiful if you only eat from their store has said the mean nasty government (and yes the USDA needs to be more forceful on GMO crops) is forcing them to carry GMO foods. 

And I stand for my fat! Because fat is part of my body, it is a part of me. To hate it is to hate myself.

*Disclaimer the b/w image and background were photoshopped. However the fat people in the ads are fat and the thin people are thin. Quotes underneath are 100% truth. 

 

Let's fail again

This article in the Atlantic Post talks about criticism of the Let's Move campaign. The same criticism I have been repeating religiously in this blog.

...many experts wonder, is the Let’s Move campaign damaging the self-esteem of the very children it’s trying to help?

I believe that when you attempt to make fat kids thin you will instead find an increase in eating disorders and low self-esteem. Don't believe me? A study in Journal of Clinical Nursing of 16,000 students found that about 16% of children 10-12 were vomiting to lose weight (and it is affecting both genders as boys actually had a higher rate). We learned from Arkansas' attempts at making fat kids thin that this sort of thing is a waste of time and money. Instead, we should use money from these programs to make sure all schools can afford to have gym every day and that the cafeteria serves healthy edible food (the cafeteria in my high school served unhealthy and inedible food.)

And speaking of making fat people thin - Bariatric surgery doesn't help obese live longer, study says. (I will ignore the fact that they use "obese" as a noun.) Essentially this article is reporting about a study in JAMA where older men who had WLS did not live longer. The study was of 850 veterans, and compare to a WLS group to a non-WLS group. The WLS group did not live any longer. This was after 6 years. And WLS is also causing bulimia among some patients.

Meanwhile According to researchers from the Weight Management Services Program at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine study found that about 30% of fat patients they saw were considered healthy.  I have to wonder if the 70% who were considered unhealthy had a history of dieting.

I find all of this a mess: eating disorders, death, metabolically unhealthy. Why do we have to pressure fat people to be thin instead of being healthy?

Arkansas wastes our time and money and Some Doctors think fat women don't deserve care.

In 2003 Arkansas created a health bill to make fat kids thin. Then governor Mike Huckabee who had lost 100 lbs after being diagnosed with diabetes wanted a "lean" and "healthy" Arkansas. Some claim he had weight loss surgery which he denied. He has also since gained the weight back. Anyway, under the new rules Arkansas schools would send home BMI screenings and report cards, fewer vending machines in school, limit junk food and increase physical activity.

The results? Some eight years later? A huge waste of time and money. Not only are fat kids still fat there has been very little increase in healthy behaviors. In fact kids are consuming more junk food. 

Now look at this waste of time and money in Arkansas and look at Let's Move. While Arkansas was more harsh, both programs prefer that children get thin rather than healthy. Stigma against fat people is in all walks of life and a recent study by the Journal of Health Communication points out that fat people are often portrayed negatively in media articles (i.e. the headless fattie.)

Obese individuals are frequently stigmatized in online news photographs; this phenomenon has important implications for public perceptions of obese persons and may reinforce pervasive prejudice and discrimination.

Meanwhile in South Florida, some OB/GYN doctors have decided that women who weigh over 200 lbs don't deserve any care. 

Fifteen obstetrics-gynecology practices out of 105 polled by the Sun Sentinel said they have set weight cut-offs for new patients starting at 200 pounds or based on measures of obesity — and turn down women who are heavier...  "People don't realize the risk we're taking by taking care of these patients," said Dr. Albert Triana, whose two-physician practice in South Miami declines patients classified as obese. "There's more risk of something going wrong and more risk of getting sued. Everything is more complicated with an obese patient in GYN surgeries and in [pregnancies]."

So the doctors have assumed no matter what that fat=high risk. I have to wonder if these same doctors don't see smokers  as high risk patients as well? A doctor should see a patient first before deciding they can't treat them. And if you are in OB/GYN who can't handle high risk pregnancy, do ALL pregnant women a favor and find another field. No one needs a doctor who is more worried about lawsuits than caring for a patient. Sometimes women seem low risk in the beginning and have complications at the end. What do you tell them "Oh sorry, I don't do high risk, you are on your own." 

 

Glee, sex and self esteem.

Check out the essay I wrote for Xhibit P, a interactive site that covers issues in pop culture.  My essay is about the lack of storyline and sexuality of Glee's fat characters.  Don't just read my essay but the entire theme is all about body image including Zoe Spencer's article about black women's booty or Franchesca Ramsey video about photoshop: "Pixel Perfect". 

In my essay, I point out that the character Mercedes who is a regular on Glee is non-sexual (she remains the only main character in Glee who has not had a long term relationship) where Lauren (who is reoccurring)  is hypersexual.  Fat women are often characterized (especially in media) as either giving it freely so people will like them or not getting it at all because no one wants them.

A entry from a blog called Live Once, Juicy explores the myth of fat sexuality (from a list of myths about fat people from Pattie Thomas' excellent book Taking up Space) and how fat people being asexual is a myth. Fat isn't asexual. She points out that asexual is an orientiation of people who aren't interested in sex.  In other words, the real myth here is that fat people aren’t sexy, she writes.

This is a modern phenomenon possibly brought on by media which puts conventionally pretty people as positive and desirable compared to fat people who are often headless and associated with disease and death.  But look at nudes in the past and you'll see chubby and fat. 

However there are people out there who either prefer a fat partner or don't allow media to cloud their judgement about what is attractive.  The problem is that fat people also believe the hype. They don't consider themselves sexy because they don't look like what the media has made desirable.  And a suitor might be potentially be turned off by the low self-esteem.

So it's important fat girls that you improve that self-esteem. Give up those magazines, try to avoid those images that make you feel like dirt. Go to Fat Positive events. I just went to one on Saturday, the Fat Girls Fleamarket. And it wasn't the "new" clothes that made me feel good, (although I did snag an Igigi dress for $10), it was the feeling of comradarie of this event. Here was a place that I could not only get cool clothes but wouldn't feel like a leper while shopping.

 

A grain of salt

First off a few weeks back the FDA rejected the diet drug Lorcaserin.  It's been a minor miracle that two drugs have been rejected and one removed. Is the FDA finally realizing that diet drugs don't work in the long run and can be dangerous?

The Atlantic Magazine has an excellent article about lies in the medical community.  A meta-reasearcher Dr. John P. A. Ioannidis who questioned in a 2005 paper Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. In the Atlantic article: "He charges that as much as 90 percent of the published medical information that doctors rely on is flawed... 

"...But these studies often sharply conflict with one another. Studies have gone back and forth on the cancer-preventing powers of vitamins A, D, and E; on the heart-health benefits of eating fat and carbs; and even on the question of whether being overweight is more likely to extend or shorten your life. How should we choose among these dueling, high-profile nutritional findings? Ioannidis suggests a simple approach: ignore them all."

The Medical community while may contain many things to benefit humankind. Drugs, surgerical procedures, preventive care that save lives. Several members of my family are alive today due to life saving drugs, procedures and early diagnosis.

However even if Dr. Ioannidis is only half right, that is still a lot of false information. There isn't always a lot of consumer protection, so you best bet is to be educated when dealing with the doctor. If you decide to take a pill, get surgery, get preventive care make sure you fully inform yourself about it.

Wellness Plans of the Corn

Finally, someone from the medical establishment thinks that wellness incentives aren't as good as they sound and they will unfairly discriminated against the poor who don't always have time to go to the gym. I will go even further. I see no reason to punish someone in good health who happens to be be above the arcane BMI normal weight. (I also see no reason to punish people in poor health who happen to be in the range as well.  Health care needs to be blind.)

Association for Size Diversity & Health has put out a press release imploring that the focus shift from weight to health.

Meanwhile a usually worthwhile source Alternet has genuinely proven that high fructose corn syrup caused the Great American Obesity Epidemic because 16 volunteers got high levels of it. 

This is essentially what I've been talking about: a study involving a whole 16 people have proven beyond a doubt that corn syrup is the enemy. But a six international studies indicating those with overweight BMI needs more studies.

BTW, I cannot eat or drink anything derived from corn. It makes me sick. I think it is healthier to use sugar (Preferably cane and fair trade) than sugar substitutes of any kind, but making any claim from a study of 16 people is ridiculous. 

Workplace "Wellness"?

I spent my vacation in Vermont.  Five days of essentially doing nothing.  Not really nothing more like swimming, walking, hiking, reading, writing, eating and watching movies.  For the first time ever I had time for all.  I exercised a few hours day, read 4 books, watched 4 movies, worked on a short story and ate mostly organic meals.  Not to mention significant alone time with my DH. 

What allowed me to have enough energy to do all this and allowed my stress levels to decrease?

I didn't have to go to work. It was the lack of not having to go to my job that allowed me to do all these healthy things.  Workplace wellness happened merely because I didn't have to go to work.

This is a call to change the state of workplace wellness.   Because the problem isn't fat people.  The problem isn't your workforce knowing the difference between good nutrition or bad. The problem isn't motivation to move.  The problem is this constant harping to lose weight regardless of your health. 

But that seems completely oblivious to the CDC which is now promoting LeanWorks!  LeanWorks, brought to you by the same organization that did TWO studies that showed overweight people lived the longest, is a program to help your workforce lose weight.  Fine, it's not much different than the other stupid programs that choose weight loss over health, until I came across the Obesity Calculator.  The calculator will tell you how much money you will save if only the fatties who work for you lose weight. Which to me crosses the line from trying to make people "healthy" to right out discrimination.  It labels people unhealthy based on the flawed BMI. Meanwhile more studies are stating obesity is not a death sentence.

This new program is wrong on some many levels.
1. It's discriminatory.  Are jobs going to weigh people or demand intimate information from their personal life?   Programs like this don't encourage healthiness, they encourage companies to fire fat employees regardless of their health.
2. It's filled with factual errors as well as lack of information.  Many "Facts" have footnote numbers next to them, but I have yet to find those notes in the materials.  The $117 billion "obesity" cost has always been a shaky number.
3. It encourages disordered eating.  Healthy fat people may take it upon themselves to lose weight when they don't really need too.

You really want to make a healthy workforce, try this: decrease stress on the job. Fewer hours in a work week allows people have time to go home, make a healthy meal, exercise and have some leisure time.  Stop making people do jobs of two people, value good work, give great benefits, decent amount of vacation, personal, child care, and sick time.

In the end, LeanWorks will create hostile work environments for fat people, increase eat disorders and like most programs that focus on weight loss as indicator of health, won't make people healthier.

The Cookie Cutter

Remember last week about the Japanese study that overweight people lived longer that those who weren't?  Well another study came out from Canada stated the same thing. 

How many studies do we need before it's okay to have meat on our bones or understand that being fat isn't evil.  Another study from last year said that being fat didn't necessarily mean being unhealthy, and thin doesn't always mean healthy.

To me a dangerous message is sent when fat is associated with unhealthy and thin is associated with health.  A fat person might resort to dangerous diets and surgery just to lose weight (say the author of this blog), even if that fat person has no health issues.  A thin person may think "It's okay, I'm thin" to not engage in healthy habits.  

However that being said.  If you are 'normal' or 'underweight please don't try to gain.   We live in a world (especially America) that says we must all come out of the same flawless cookie cutter.  No one is flawless.  Beauty is what society makes it.  For example another fat "venus" statue was found. She is about 35000 years ago.  She was the image of beauty back then.

So beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Health as well.  I don't want thin to be the image of health and beauty. However I don't want fat to be that, either.  I want us to stop looking at a person and judging them.

Another edition of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good.

The Fat Girl's Flea Market returns! Saturday April 4th. Donate your clothes and your time!   And be sure to actually come.  This is the best shopping experience you will ever have.

Starting on March 29th, HBO presents the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency based on popular series by Alexander McCall Smith. Beautiful Jill Scott plays Mma Ramotswe who is the only female detective in all of Botswanna.  She is also fat, so it was nice to see a fat actress in the role instead of a fat suit.

John McCain's daughter Meghan sticks it to talk show host Laura Ingraham who insults Meghan's weight instead of her politics.

The Bad

Apparently school programs to stop rampant fatness aren't enough, they'll now be offering free eating disorder lessons.  There are also no fat dancers.  Okay they aren't giving ED lessons, but you keep pressuring kids to be thin that's going to happen.  The writer Dorene Internicola (who's email address I have yet to find) was nice to mention that "There are very few fat dancers" (At the very end of the article.)

Correction: there are very few fat dancers in the mainstream.  Yeah you see one or two on Dancing with the Stars, but we have yet to have the Big Moves/ The Glamazons power hour. You claim to be a reporter, perhaps you should learn how to be one.

The Ugly

When plus size Samantha Scafe contacted airline Jetstar on whether she would have to buy a second seat, they told her no. The story changed as the flight got closer.  She was forced to buy a second seat, except the two seats weren't together and they did the same thing on the way home. It isn't just Jetstar, this is a common practice of Southwest to tell fat people they only have to buy one seat until they get to the airport or have to get a connecting flight or have to fly home. I believe in one person, one fare.   And if you are forced to buy two seats, perhaps they should be together.

Fat suits don't help Pt. 11 million.

So I got this article in my mailbox.  I was initially excited.  The title read "What happened when we sent a 'fattie' to London Fashion Week? Kate Faithfull reports back on her week on the fatwalk".  I thought 'did someone actually put a model more than size 2 on the catwalk?'  I remember when Gaultier put stunning plus size model Velvet  in his show.

Nope, just another person in a fat suit who thinks she is trying to help but instead insults us.  Not to mention she looks ridiculous.  Honey, green and red is for Christmas. 

Please we don't need any more help from thin people in fat suits.  You want to help, start pressuring the fashion industry to have models of all sizes, with clothes for all sizes.   Instead of that hideous monstrosity she is wearing, why not have a FAT model wear a similar dress that Thin Kate is wearing.  Just as Velvet was stunning, clothes with the right fit can look great on anyone.

Help comes from bold people coming forward to say discrimination is not right and try their best to fight it-- with out a fat suit.