News Clippings on
Health, Weight, Body Image, Eating Disorders, Plus-size Lifestyle and
Culture
Tracking health and body image issues in the national press for those
interested in national trends in attitude towards weight and obesity.
Elegant Plus clips
both positive and negative news, and opinions expressed do not reflect
editorial opinion. New scientific studies surrounding the connection
between weight, lifestyle, and
chronic diseases are coming out all the time. Body shaming and
attitudes towards people who do not meet body ideals are at an all time
negative high. Meanwhile, The Health at Every Size
movement is gaining momentum, push back in the fashion and entertainment
industries are beginning to counter act prejudice, and feminist interests
are constantly trying to raise awareness
surrounding advertising and media practices that impact women and girls'
self-esteem, identity and sense of self worth. Plus models and larger
than average actresses and celebrities are more often seen
in the national spotlight Fashion designers, on the one hand, appear
more willing to dress these figures on the red carpet at awards shows, but
on the other, continue to send excessively thin bodies down high fashion
runways.
Magazines and advertising practice airbrushing and the distortion of images
to the point of absurd thinness as aspirational, fantasy body ideals daily.
In the age of social media, figures in other areas of public life are
increasingly attacked for body size and weight as poor role models. In
fact bullying behavior is at an all time high in many sectors.
It is unclear whether many medical procedures and pharmaceutical
solutions are helping or hurting, while the food industry continues pushing
practices and ingredients which impact public health.
The cultural conversation concerning health, weight, self-esteem and body
image all impacts eating disorder prone individuals with children as young
as age 3 exhibiting symptoms.
Elegant Plus
Curvy Clippings News Service
All the latest news on obesity, health, body image,
eating disorders,
dieting, weight, plus-size lifestyle and culture *
In the past year,
some hospitals spent
as much as $5
million to update
and enlarge their
facilities to
accommodate obese
patients, according
to a recently
released report by
Novation LLC, an
Irving, Texas,
health-care supply
chain company that
produces annual
commentary on the
cost of bariatric
care.
Larger
patients need
supersized beds,
chairs and
wheelchairs, open
MRI machines and
toilets bolted to
the floor instead of
the wall, the report
noted. But with more
than 200,000
weight-loss
surgeries performed
each year at a cost
of up to $26,000 per
surgery, many
hospitals consider
the extra cost a
wise investment.
Hospitals are
just one example of
the way the world is
adapting to
accommodate
expanding
waistlines. Here are
six more areas that
have been recently
plumped up in
response to the more
than 68 percent of
Americans who are
now considered
either overweight or
obese, according to
the Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention.
Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of
the chemical tributyltin (TBT) -- which was
used in marine antifouling paints and is
used as an antifungal agent in some paints,
certain plastics and a variety of consumer
products -- can lead to obesity for multiple
generations without subsequent exposure, a
UC Irvine study has found.
Recently, Lee realized it was challenging to
preach to students about personal growth
when she was stuck herself. Yoga unites body
and mind, and while she led meditations and
could do a headstand, Lee's lifelong
negative body image plagued her.
Her self-worth was wrapped up in her
appearance, and although she was never what
most would consider overweight, she never
quite met her own expectations. The book
follows her journey to discover the roots of
her self-judgment, and the tools to get past
it. "I didn't know that taking care of
myself wasn't the same as actually caring
about myself," Lee writes.
She bravely shares intimate details of her
life, which draws in readers. Her dancing
and choreography experience in the 1980s for
stars like Cyndi Lauper put her body under a
microscope and in competition with many thin
peers.
Lee's visits with her mother — who suffers
from dementia — spark memories of when she
first became aware of her body and perceived
its imperfections.
Since Lee was a teen, feelings of guilt,
fear and shame overcame her regularly: "I
was always getting mad at my body, but my
body has been fine. It's my relationship to
my body that's hurting me and my mind is the
real troublemaker."
Uncomfortable talking about puberty and sex,
her mother contributed to Lee's issues. Her
mother's preoccupation with her own
appearance set an example that nagged Lee
through adulthood.
Lee consults health experts and spiritual
leaders, practices meditation, studies
Buddhism and tries positive affirmations.
She meets with her friend, actress Jamie Lee
Curtis, once famous for her sexy body. Now
54, Curtis' body has changed, but she offers
Lee advice on acceptance.
She also recognizes that the hormone shifts
of menopause affect her emotions and sex
drive. Over time, she's able to push out
negative thoughts about her body and let in
supportive ones. Releasing those thoughts is
a challenge and, like yoga, a perpetual
practice.
Patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
have a greater prevalence of cancer with
longer diabetes duration and with insulin
use, according to a study published online
Jan. 8 in Diabetes Care.
Nancy Keefe
Rhodes, a therapist and writer in Syracuse,
N.Y., has struggled with weight all her
life. So when the uncle she idolized asked
her, at age 10, if she went to “Omar the
tentmaker” for her clothes, she was
devastated. “When I begged him to stop, he
said he was just trying to help,” she said.
Parents and other adults who are “only
trying to help” may do harm rather than
good, as a recent study from the journal
Pediatrics makes clear. More than 350 teens
who had attended one of two weight-loss
camps filled out detailed questionnaires
about their experiences of being victimized
because of their weight. It found, not
surprisingly, that nearly all heavier
teenagers are teased or bullied about their
weight by peers. What was surprising was the
number of teenagers who said they have
experienced what amounts to bullying at the
hands of trusted adults, including coaches
and gym teachers (42 percent) and, most
disturbingly, parents (37 percent).
The report
talks about "incentivising" people to
exercise. It is hard to imagine more
incentive to lose weight than the intense
stigma, discrimination, street harassment
and systemic social exclusion that fat
people already face. If body weight was a
choice solely mediated by eating less and
exercising more, we would all have lost
weight ages ago. Fat people are incentivised
enough and take extraordinary risks to
assume the bodies of "good", non-fat
citizens. My friend is currently
recuperating from gastric band surgery that
has modified her body to malabsorb
nourishment for the rest of her life. She
has fought to be normatively thin at every
stage of her 63 years, is more than willing
to risk the inevitable miserable effects of
such invasive treatment, and is not alone in
this.
The way to improve fat people's wellbeing,
which would also have the added benefit of
improving people's health across the board,
is not to treat weight loss as a panacea (it
clearly does not work as a long-term remedy
for health and social problems associated
with fat). Instead, the LGiU should be
developing health at every size
interventions, fat activist communities and
pioneering projects such as medical
self-advocacy, anti-discrimination work and
other low-cost, low-risk initiatives with
proven track records. Improving people's
access to good housing, meaningful work and
a living wage wouldn't hurt either.
“A few years
ago, I would have actually said to you, you
know, the person who's doing that session at
the gym once a day is doing everything they
need to do. But the data that are now coming
up suggests that's not the case, “Levine
told NBC News’ Natalie Morales in an
interview airing Thursday, Jan. 10 on NBC’s
Rock Center with Brian Williams. “Being
sedentary for nine hours a day at the office
is bad for your health whether you go home
and watch television afterwards or hit the
gym. It is bad whether you are morbidly
obese or marathon-runner thin. It appears
that what is critical and maybe even more
important than going to the gym, is breaking
up that sitting time.”
In a study that
offers insight into the depth of
stigmatization of overweight and obese
people, researchers at the Yale Rudd Center
for Food Policy & Obesity found that weight
stigma extends to the courtroom. Published
online in the International Journal of
Obesity, the study shows that a defendant’s
body weight and gender impact jurors’
perceptions of guilt and responsibility.....
Male
participants rated the obese female
defendant guiltier than the lean female
defendant, whereas female respondents judged
the two female defendants equally regardless
of weight. Among all participants, there
were no differences in assessment of guilt
between the obese male and lean male
defendants.
Only the obese female defendant was
penalized for her weight, a finding that is
consistent with research published in the
past 20 years that shows obese females face
more weight-related stigma than obese males.
Glucose, but
not fructose, suppresses brain activity in
regions that promote the desire to eat,
whereas fructose feeding may promote
overeating through its inability to
effectively suppress food-seeking behavior,
the scientists found.
Glucose and fructose are found in many
fruits and vegetables, and they combine in
table sugar. Fructose, however, is also
found in another common sweetener,
high-fructose corn syrup, which can be found
in certain soft drinks and processed foods.
Fructose consumption has increased over the
past few decades, as have rates of obesity.
We know that
sugary sodas aren't good for our bodies; now
it turns out that they may not be good for
our minds, either. A new study of more than
260,000 people has found a link between
sweetened soft-drinks and depression -- and
diet sodas may be making matters worse.
....we're
vowing
to
make
our
resolutions
for
2013
all
about
how
we
feel
--
not
how
we
look.
We
know
that
New
Year's
can
come
with
a
lot
of
pressure
to
lose
weight,
with
gym
membership
deals,
diet
plans,
and
get-thin
resolutions
seemingly
everywhere.
Instead
of
counting
calories
and
aiming
for
a
size
zero,
set
goals
for
yourself
that
are
focused
more
on
your
health
and
well-being
than
your
physical
appearance.
With
a
foundation
of
good
health
and
killer
body
confidence,
you'll
be
in a
better
position
to
focus
on
all
those
other
goals
you
set
for
yourself
for
2013.
A new study in
the Canadian Medical Association Journal
found that women with polycystic ovarian
syndrome (PCOS) have twice the risk of
developing a blood clot when taking oral
birth control.
PCOS affects
5-10 percent of women and occurs when there
is an imbalance of the sex hormones:
estrogen, progesterone and androgen. Some of
the symptoms of this condition are cysts on
the ovaries, irregular menstrual periods,
extra hair growth as well as higher risk of
obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
According to Reuters, women with PCOS also
have more risk factors for heart disease.
"I'd been taught that you just help someone reduce calories and the weight comes off, but what I found was a whole heap of evidence showing it is not possible in the long term," Aphramor says. "Even when people kept to a reduced-calorie diet for nearly eight years, they didn't lose a significant amount of weight."
Then she discovered Health at Every Size (HAES), a belief system and trans-disciplinary global movement that sets out to change the fundamental ways society and individuals approach the issues of weight and weight loss.
HAES emphasises intuitive eating: listening to your body and eating when hungry, and pleasurable physical activity in conjunction with body acceptance and self-confidence building.
In the abstract for a paper she wrote for the Nutrition Journal with Linda Bacon, a nutrition professor at the City College of San Francisco, Aphramor clearly set out the case for HAES.
"Current guidelines recommend that 'overweight' and 'obese' individuals lose weight through engaging in lifestyle modification involving diet, exercise and other behavioural change," she wrote.
"But the majority of individuals are unable to maintain weight loss over the long term and do not achieve the putative benefits of improved morbidity and mortality ... This weight focus is not only ineffective at producing thinner, healthier bodies, but may also have unintended consequences ... reduced self-esteem, eating disorders, other reductions in health, and weight stigmatisation and discrimination."
Clinical trials showed a HAES approach resulted in greater improvement in both physical and psychological health, and healthier behaviour compared with traditional weight loss.
Jennifer
Livingston never imagined she'd be the
subject of school lesson plans. She never
expected to see her words emblazoned on pins
and T-shirts. She never thought she'd
receive heartfelt messages from children in
other countries seeking her advice about how
to deal with bullies.
But that is her
new reality. The Wisconsin news anchor
sparked a viral firestorm in October when
she stood up for herself on camera after a
viewer criticized her weight and called her
a bad example for her community. Almost
three months have passed since then, and
Livingston is still hearing from kids and
adults who view her as a much-needed hero in
the anti-bullying crusade.
"I didn't think
I was doing anything that was extraordinary
— I really, truly didn't," Livingston said
when TODAY.com caught up with her at the
close of 2012. "I'm overweight, and it
doesn't bother me necessarily that people
point that out.
"What got to me
was the way the viewer said, ‘You're such a
bad role model, you're such a bad person,
you should go hide under a rock.' It's
head-scratching that anyone would make that
connection."
A study
released
today
sends
out a
strongly
worded
warning
about
risks of
kidney,
liver,
and
other
organ
damage
from the
most
popular
weight
drugs on
the
market.
According
to a
University
of Rhode
Island
study
funded
by the
National
Institutes
of
Health (NIH),
orlistat,
which
goes by
the
prescription
brand
name
Xenical
and the
over-the-counter
name
Alli,
can
cause
“severe
toxicity”
to major
internal
organs.
Her critical
nature was passed on to me and I have always
been extremely unforgiving toward myself in
the very same way I saw my mom treat
herself.
Until now. Until Violet.
I am very aware of how I speak about myself
in front of my daughter. Specifically, I do
not discuss my weight by bemoaning the size
of my derriere or grabbing handfuls of
muffin top in frustration, I just don't.
Even though it's generally the first thing
that occurs to me when I look in the mirror.
Because the last thing I want my daughter
worrying about is her weight. Yes, I know
it's inevitable. The minute she gets to
gabbing with girlfriends they're going to
infect her with their issues. Issues that
maybe their mothers unintentionally passed
down as they were observed by their
daughters bitching about their weight or
their hair or their noses. But if I can
squeeze in nine or ten years of instilling
my daughter with self-esteem, specifically
by leading by example, then perhaps the
arrows shot at her from friends and
magazines and TV and movies won't penetrate
as far.
Subscribe to the Curvy Clippings Service
Delivered Straight to your in-box.
[Archive of Past Clippings Newsletters also available here]
