Media and Research Roundup - December 2023
Image description: A photo of a pair of hands wearing surgical gloves injecting a solution into a small vial. In the background are various vials and laboratory supplies.
By Bill and Terri Weitze
CONTENT WARNING: Some articles featured in the Media & Research Roundup may refer to stigmatizing events or use stigmatizing language.
June 13, 2023: In a systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers find no evidence of an association between higher mortality risk with higher BMI; rather, higher BMI is associated with lower mortality in some groups. The authors suggest further research into the effect of inflammation, fasting insulin, and weight loss interventions on mortality.
November 16, 2023: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued warnings against food and beverage industry groups and nutrition influencers regarding the disclosure of paid advertising.
November 19, 2023: Getting married? Be prepared for algorithms to start pushing hard with weight loss advertising.
November 21, 2023: Chris Marr discusses New York City’s recent ban on body-size discrimination and the protections it will offer.
November 28, 2023: WeightWatchers’ CEO has issued an apology on behalf of WeightWatchers, acknowledging that weight loss is not just about will power, as the company pivots to new weight loss medications. (Editor’s note: While we appreciate Weight Watcher’s admission that they’ve been wrong in their past approaches, we at NAAFA have deep concerns about the company becoming a pharmaceutical distributor.)
December 1, 2023: Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, is spending a lot of money to push their weight loss drugs on doctors.
December 1, 2023: Courtenay Hameister tells a story of how her own internalized fat shame caused her to hurt one of the most loving people in her life.
December 2, 2023: In June 2023, the American Medical Association recommended that healthcare professionals look beyond BMI to understand a patient’s health. The dangers of weight-focused medicine and the benefits of weight-neutral medicine are discussed in this article.
December 7, 2023: New York City’s public hospital Bellevue is on track to perform 3,000 weight loss surgeries this year. Investigations have found that Bellevue’s bariatric surgery department cuts corners on pre- and post-surgery processing, and has become a potentially dangerous high-speed assembly line.
December 7, 2023: Samantha Puc writes an in-depth article on author Aubrey Gordon, who posted anonymously under the pseudonym “Your Fat Friend” until the publication of her book, What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.
December 12, 2023: Freelance photojournalist Jackie Molloy attended Philly FatCon and talks about a wonderful weekend of fat people celebrating themselves, with shopping, mingling, and lots of panels.
Pic is of Terri and Bill Weitze, a Caucasian couple, both wearing glasses
Terri and Bill Weitze have been active within NAAFA for years, and they currently coauthor the Media and Research Roundup in the NAAFA Newsletter. They both live and work in Michigan, and met through a fat-positive bulletin board system before the days of the World Wide Web.