Media and Research Roundup: August 2023
CONTENT WARNING: Some articles featured in the Media and Research Roundup may refer to stigmatizing events or use stigmatizing language.
July 2023: The AMA Journal of Ethics devotes an entire issue to overreliance on BMI (body mass index), a measure of relative weight. While this is from a fat=bad viewpoint, it’s good that the medical establishment is questioning its assumptions.
July 6, 2023: In Scotland, a supplier of a potentially fatal substance sold as a diet pill was sentenced to 37 months in jail.
Jul 15, 2023: Philadelphia will host the 1st ever Philly FatCon in October. The three women behind it want everyone to celebrate being unapologetically themselves.
July 18, 2023: Fat positive comedian Sofie Hagen discusses how venues can become more fat-friendly.
July 20, 2023: Finnish Artist Iiu Susiraja’s debut show in the US highlights the artist’s humorous and honest self-portraits.
July 20, 2023: This local news article (with video) discusses a bridal shop in upstate New York for fat brides.
July 21, 2023: This article discusses the pros and cons of the new category of weight loss drugs from a viewpoint that considers them miracle drugs with some drawbacks.
July 23, 2023: An opinion article in The Guardian asks the question: What if we let our kids eat what they want? The article is a reaction to the book Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith, who discusses the real harm caused by fat hatred.
July 24, 2023: Being weighed can harm some patients’ mental health according to this University of Missouri study (press release is here).
July 24, 2023: The side effects of drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy are starting to cause alarm in those who took them for weight loss.
August 2023: Lori Don Levan and Stefanie Snider guest edit the latest issue of Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society on "Representing Fatness Through Critical and Artistic Practice", now available online.
August 9, 2023: A plus sized woman who has finished 26 marathons is mentoring high school girls of all sizes with the same passion for running.
