The coronavirus is very, very unlikely to kill you, although the risk is higher if you’re elderly and/or have underlying health conditions … such as obesity. The Los Angeles Times recognizes this problem and has taken a look at how COVID-19 has brought back fat-shaming and thrown in sharp relief the battle between the medical community and the fat acceptance movement.
The pandemic has underscored many inequities in society.
One in particular involves weight bias and flaws in healthcare. We explain: https://t.co/z7FWLylPYI
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 8, 2021
There is a clash between the medical establishment and the fat acceptance movement.
First, there's terminology: Some use clinical terms like “obesity” and “overweight,” while others proudly use “large-bodied,” “people of size,” or “fat" https://t.co/z7FWLyDqQg pic.twitter.com/hIvaX7id58
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 8, 2021
So we’re actually going from having battles over calling women “birthing persons” to calling the obese “people of size.”
Chrystal Bougon says her experience with medical providers has been one incident of size stigma after another.
She qualified for vaccination due to her BMI. She feared being hospitalized with COVID-19 and unable to advocate for herself. https://t.co/z7FWLylPYI pic.twitter.com/7FTsT1aroT
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 8, 2021
This issue has real consequences. Research shows weight bias can keep larger-bodied people from seeking and receiving appropriate care.
A 24-year-old told us a particularly horrible experience involving a nurse: https://t.co/z7FWLylPYI pic.twitter.com/bmySInUzyG
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 8, 2021
Recommended
More than 70% of adults in the United States either overweight or obese, according to the CDC.
Read more, including the findings of a 2020 article in a journal about weight bias https://t.co/z7FWLylPYI
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 8, 2021
In other words, said Ragen Chastain, who is the author of “Fat: The Owner’s Manual” and has written widely on weight bias in medical research, “If fat bodies experience something more than thin bodies, fat bodies are to blame, rather than the unequal treatment fat people receive due to weight stigma.”
Opinions are a dime a dozen, and this one is worth even less
— Acquisitions (@StockMarket5577) May 8, 2021
Can we stop pretending that being overweight is a good thing, if a doctor says you are obese, they aren’t fat-shaming…
— n9249c (@n9249c) May 8, 2021
😂😂😂 it’s because weight causes health issues. The overwhelming deaths from COVID come from obese patients. These patients already struggle with breathing due to weight so yes your personal problems affect your health. Your weight is a fact not a bias.
— Daniel McIntyre (@Itz_Chop) May 9, 2021
Yes, I believe 88% of those hospitalized for covid were morbidly obese. I guess it's easier to cry about it to the LA Times instead of changing unhealthy lifestyles.
— Mrs N (@IForgotMyLetter) May 9, 2021
So we believe the science of medicine? Or we reject it because it makes us sad?
— Mike Pollack (@MikePollack8) May 8, 2021
True equality can never be achieved as long as we don’t weigh the same.
— Klaus Rothstein (@KlausRothstein) May 9, 2021
It was only a matter of time before an article like this was published.
— sarcastic_cat (@a_sarcasticcat) May 9, 2021
Why does every news story have to sound like parody?
— Bobson "BADDOO" Dugnutt (@baseball_cali) May 9, 2021
Yeah, you shame that virus into not killing obese people 70% more often than everyone else!
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) May 9, 2021
No one should be made fun of because of how they look.
But this isn't healthy. pic.twitter.com/NZ8MEtra6n— Mr. Arnold (@ArnoldofMD) May 8, 2021
LA Times is trying to tell us that science is fatphobic. This is our timeline.
— I am Brett (@EveryDayJiayou) May 9, 2021
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