Media and Research Roundup - January 2022
Image description: Graphic shows four pictures: 1) The logo for chubbydiaries.com, 2) a smashed scale on concrete steps, 3) the international “NO” sign superimposed over the letters “BMI” (body mass index), 4) a young Black womxn outdoors in a yoga pose.
By Bill and Terri Weitze
CW: Some discussion of another long term risk associated with WLS (weight loss surgery), a new WLS device, and trauma experienced by fat people.
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media and Research Roundup. This issue features: a travel article featuring Chubby Diaries travel blogger, Jeff Jenkins; a podcast interview; long term risks associated with WLS; Jessamyn Stanley shows how fitness instructors can become a fat ally and more!
December 2021: Follow Jeff Jenkins, Chubby Diaries travel blogger, as he discusses his passion for travel and helping others, and his trip to the Florida Keys where he participated in a project for divers to help restore the shallow water coral reefs.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/creativegroup/marriott-bonvoy/a-plus-size-adventurer-dives-to-revive-floridas-coral-reefs
December 1, 2021: Expand the Curve podcast interviews Ragen Chastain about her participation in a marathon, speaking engagements, the diet industry, and weight discrimination.
https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/expand-the-curve/diet-industry-doesnt-tell-EC24aSVP5Dx
December 9, 2021: Researchers, presenting their findings at the American Epilepsy Society 2021 Annual Meeting, conclude that an increased risk of epilepsy should be added to other long term risks associated with WLS (weight loss surgery).
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/964471
https://cms.aesnet.org/abstractslisting/epilepsy-risk-following-bariatric-surgery-for-weight-loss
December 27, 2021: The "DentalSlim" device consists of magnets clamped around the user's teeth to prevent solid food intake, akin to having one's jaw wired shut. As such, it is still a method of dieting, and just as sustainable.
https://scitechdaily.com/dentalslim-diet-control-researchers-develop-world-first-weight-loss-device
December 29, 2021: Healthcare professionals are beginning to realize that it may not be necessary to weigh their patients every time the patients come in, and in fact, the practice may be detrimental to some patients.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/12/29/body-acceptance-weight-physicians-shaming
January 2022: The most recent issue of Fat Studies is now available. This issue is focused on public health, healthism, and fatness.
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ufts20/11/1?nav=tocList
January 2022: Judith Matz discusses the commonly-accepted theory that people who suffer trauma (especially sexual trauma) become fat as a protection from further trauma or abuse, and why this needs to be looked at more carefully.
https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/article/2621/unlearning-weight-stigma/751aa799-34e8-44c4-80c3-7cd27416454a/oim
January 1, 2022: BMI has racist and non-medical roots, and is also misogynistic (the original data included only European men). The article talks about why BMI and weight-centric healthcare are not useful when it comes to the health of individual patients.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-02/the-problem-with-the-body-mass-index-bmi/100728416
January 11, 2022: Jessamyn Stanley shows how fitness instructors can become a fat ally while offering more inclusive services for clients of all sizes and abilities. Prospective clients can use the recommendations in educating themselves about what type of fitness instructor would be a good match.
https://www.self.com/story/fitness-instructors-anti-fat-bias
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.