Media and Research Roundup
By Bill and Terri Weitze
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media and Research Roundup. This issue features: A plus-size ballet dancer, fashion updates, a study on metabolism and energy during and after exercise, and insecticide ban and more!
August 5, 2021: Colleen Werner fought her weight and size as she studied dance, eventually developing an eating disorder. She is now a professional dancer, ambassador for a dance product line, and working towards her masters in clinical health counseling. She hopes to one day create an eating disorder program for dancers.
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/body-image-a-perfect-ballet-body
August 12, 2021: TZR talks with various designers about how asking the fat community what it needs and wants in plus size clothing is crucial.
https://www.thezoereport.com/fashion/plus-size-fashion-community
August 18, 2021: Old Navy is extending its sizes to 28. More importantly, their stores will no longer separate plus sizes from other sizes. No separate racks, no plus size section. Everything will be merchandized together.
https://news.yahoo.com/old-navys-initiative-makes-plus-192332322.html
August 26, 2021: Award-winning documentary Kili Big looks at fat Colorado woman Kara Hardman who, along with 19 other plus-sized people, climbed Kilimanjaro in 2019.
https://englewoodherald.net/stories/plus-size-woman-documents-kilimanjaro-climb,381216
August 27, 2021: A new study finds that when obese people exercise, the energy burned at rest is reduced, thereby reducing calorie use during exercise. The first three articles linked discuss the study; the fourth is to the study itself, published in Current Biology.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/926541
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210828/Exercise-reduces-the-amount-of-calories-burned-at-rest-in-obese-people-study-finds.aspx
https://thisfatoldlady.com/2021/09/04/this-fat-old-ladys-fat-friday-fat-body-efficiency-wins-again/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.016
August 29, 2021: Sarah Paulson admits that she should have thought more carefully before accepting the role of Linda Tripp in Impeachment: An American Crime Story. Instead of offering the role to a size-appropriate actor, Paulson wore a fat suit for the role.
https://www.eonline.com/news/1300554/sarah-paulson-admits-regret-after-backlash-over-wearing-fat-suit-as-linda-tripp-on-impeachment
August 30, 2021: A Canadian study shows that chlorpyrifos, an insecticide banned in Canada but commonly used worldwide, slows down the burning of calories in brown adipose tissue in mice. Researchers postulate that chlorpyrifos could be partly responsible for the obesity crisis.
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/commonly-used-pesticide-could-be-partly-responsible-for-obesity-crisis-study/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25384-y
September 9, 2021: No. 1 in Apple's health and fitness podcasts, Maintenance Phase features Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes exploring what they call the "wellness-industrial complex", debunking health fads and nutritional advice.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/dining/wellness-industrial-complex-maintenance-phase.html
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.