Media and Research Roundup - June 2023
Image description: A cell phone, laptop, and an open notebook containing written notes lay on a wooden desk; a pair of eyeglasses is laid on top of the open notebook.
By Bill and Terri Weitze
CONTENT WARNING: Some articles featured in the Media & Research Roundup may refer to stigmatizing events or use stigmatizing language.
May 4, 2023: A survey of one thousand workers finds 36% of the workers felt they had experienced discrimination based on their height, weight, or level of attractiveness.
May 11, 2023: Weight is now a protected class in the City of New York after the passing of a bill outlawing weight-based discrimination. Several articles discussing the new law are linked: Yahoo | NY Times 1 | NY Times 2 | Insurance Journal | Marketplace
May 15, 2023: Diet giant Jenny Craig has ceased business possibly because of drugs like Ozempic and that the public is starting to understand that diets don't work.
May 25, 2023: Some body acceptance influencers talk about summer and baring more skin as a fat person.
May 30, 2023: After the American Academy of Pediatrics revised their guidelines, weight loss surgery is up 19% among children from ages 10-19: study | reporting
June 1, 2023: The National Eating Disorders Association shut down its human-staff helpline and substituted an AI chatbot. The chatbot has been shut down after it was discovered the chatbot was offering weight loss advice to callers.
June 2, 2023: Martinus Evans is a runner. He is also fat and is the founder of Slow AF Run Club with more than 10,000 members worldwide. He runs for the pure joy of it and has released his first book Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run.
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 Michigan, and met through a fat-positive bulletin board system before the days of the World Wide Web.