Media and Research Roundup - November 2021
Pic is of a young black womxn with short light brown hair and a nose ring, wearing glasses, and a yellow off-the-shoulder top. There is a thought bubble that says, “Yes, anti-fatness is based in racism” Source: Photo by AllGo-An App For Plus Size People through Unsplash.
By Bill and Terri Weitze
CW: Some discussion of “obesity” studies, weight stigma, anti-fatness and racism.
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media and Research Roundup. This issue features: “Obesity” studies, metabolic outcomes, anti-fatness and racism and more!
October 12, 2021: The headline and article say "obesity raises the risk of gum disease" but the study itself is on the effects of a high fat diet versus a low fat diet in mice.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211112083106.htm
https://doi.org/10.1177/002203452111040729
October 22, 2021: Ragen Chastain discusses the "It's Bigger Than Me" campaign which is supposed to be about destigmatizing obesity. Except it's not. The campaign is funded by Novo Nordisk, the developer of a new weight loss drug.
https://themighty.com/2021/10/its-bigger-than-me-campaign-harms-fat-people-for-profit/
November 4, 2021: A small study finds that 35% of participants (all of whom were classified as having class II or III obesity) had detectible active brown adipose tissue (BAT) and tended to have better metabolic outcomes even though those with higher BAT had higher total fat mass than the other participants.
https://consumer.healthday.com/b-11-2-could-brown-fat-keep-some-obese-people-healthier-2655439637.html
https://doi.org/10.2337/db21-0475
November 7, 2021: An article on Livestrong.com (note: other articles and ads on this site are pro-weight loss) explains how anti-fatness and racism have become intertwined over time and continue to cause harm today.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/13767170-anti-fat-weight-bias-racism
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.