December Media and Research Roundup

Image of a researcher’s hand in a blue glove holding a vial in a laboratory. Source: Science in HD from Usplach.

by Bill and Terri Weitze

September 23, 2020: Dr. Akshay B. Jain discusses comments on his commentary on obesity for Medscape and why they reflect notions about fatness that are overly simplistic or just plain wrong.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/937603

October 17, 2020: A study presented at the International Bladder Cancer Network finds that fat people with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer have improved response to a type of immunotherapy than non-fat patients.
https://www.urotoday.com/conference-highlights/ibcn-2020/125274-ibcn-2020-correlation-between-bmi-diabetes-mellitus-and-outcomes-in-patients-treated-with-bcg-immunotherapy-for-non-muscle-invasive-bladder-cancer.html

October 19, 2020: Fat Besties, a fat acceptance and body liberation group from Vancouver Island, sends an open letter regarding Canada's new Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines, objecting to the exclusion of fat voices in the creation of the guidelines, as well as policies and practices that reinforce fatphobia in the healthcare industry.
https://www.fatbesties.ca/blog/open-letter-re-obesity-canada

October 20, 2020: A new study finds that people with higher BMI (overweight and obese) have better outcomes in acute coronary syndrome; over a BMI of 40 the benefit fell off, but those patients still did better than the underweight and "healthy" BMI ranges.
https://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/acute-coronary-syndrome/obesity-paradox-acs-outcomes-underweight-patients
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2020/10/24/this-fat-old-ladys-fat-friday-fat-evolutionary-benefit-syndrome
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2020.09.059

October 22, 2020: Ragen Chastain, writing for The Mighty, points out that you can't blame body size for health outcomes if access to healthcare for body sizes is unequal, and lists five ways weight stigma is harmful to fat people's health.
https://themighty.com/2020/10/weight-stigma-hurts-health

October 25, 2020: Vol*Up*2 looks at four poems that are feminist and celebrate women's bodies, and the women who wrote those poems.
https://www.volup2.com/articles-and-blog/2020/8/22/four-feminist-poems-that-celebrate-womens-bodies-written-and-translated-by-laurisa-sastoque

October 25, 2020: Merissa Nathan Gerson provides a history of fat activism as part of Jewish culture as well as a glimpse into the newest generation of Jewish people who are working for fat liberation.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/fat-liberation-jewish-past-and-future

October 27, 2020: Recent research (non-published/non-peer reviewed) presented at the American College of Gastroenterology 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting finds that cannabis use may reduce steatohepatitis (a progression of fatty liver disease, a condition found in many fat people). This study is very preliminary.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/939813
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2020/11/07/this-fat-old-ladys-fat-friday-smoke-em-if-you-got-em

November 9, 2020: Scary Mommy blogs about the need to lift up the voices of disabled people who are a part of the fat community.
https://www.scarymommy.com/ableism-body-positivity-movement

November 13, 2020: Aubrey Gordon (also known as Your Fat Friend) describes the battles between her body and the healthcare establishment and government as a fat child during the War on Obesity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/opinion/childhood-obesity-health.html

[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 San Jose, CA, and met through a fat-positive bulletin board system before the days of the World Wide Web.