Media & Research Roundup - October 2024
[Image Description: A photo of the edge of a pile of newspapers.]
By Bill and Terri Weitze
CONTENT WARNING: Some articles featured in the Media & Research Roundup may refer to stigmatizing events or use stigmatizing language.
September 19, 2024: An opinion piece in The New York Times discusses the harm caused when established medical practices aren’t science-based. While the article does not deal with fat issues, it shows that medical positions should be based on evidence and not long-held (and accepted) prejudices.
September 24, 2024: After pumping up demand with direct-to-consumer marketing, pharmaceutical companies are not able to meet that demand as patients struggle to find supplies of Wegovy/Ozempic, and other GLP-1 drugs that are being prescribed widely for weight loss, limiting access for those who need them to manage blood sugar levels.
September 25, 2024: Scientific American’s Science Quickly interviews Laura Cooney, a co-author of a recent meta-analysis that shows people with PCOS are at a higher risk for eating disorders irrespective of their BMI. The study is linked here.
September 28, 2024: Rebecca Morrison talks about not wanting to lose weight while friends are using GLP-1 weight loss drugs, accepting her own body while also accepting that others have the right to make their own decisions about weight loss.
October 2024: Brown bears need fat to survive their winter hibernation and every year, the brown bears of Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska become the competitors in Fat Bear Week, where people vote for their favorite fat bear. This year’s winner was Grazer, accumulating 71,248 votes!
October 1, 2024: Practitioners are now prescribing GLP-1 drugs for weight loss before treating fatness-related conditions in the hopes that these conditions will improve with weight loss. The effects of being on these drugs are still unknown, so this is a very dangerous trend.
October 8, 2024: Vogue’s annual size inclusivity report shows that across 208 fashion shows and presentations only 0.8% were plus-size (US 14+), 4.3% were mid-size (US 6-12), and 94.9 % were sizes US 0-4. Lots of excuses were given, but it seems to be a matter of treating size diversity like a trend rather than as a reflection of those who love and wear clothing.
October 15, 2024: Pharmaceutical giant Lilly announces planned research on providing GLP-1 weight loss drugs to the unemployed, hoping that the weight loss will allow unemployed to go back to work. Despite the newness of these drugs, this is an approach we’ve tracked for years, where rather than dealing with discrimination, folks try to solve anti-fatness by making people less fat. There is plenty of pushback from government representatives and the healthcare community.
