I was at dinner the other night with two friends who are a couple. One is a fourth year med student and one is a first year resident. They were both very receptive and understanding about the work that More of Me to Love does, but when the conversation turned briefly to health they had some natural thoughts. Still, I was very appreciative of the way they thought about things, but I felt as though I crossed a line when I mentioned that studies show how one of the factors that contributes to the poor health found in larger people is the fact that bigger people hate going to the doctor due to the prejudice they experience.
My friends didn’t seem to appreciate this comment and we changed the subject and moved on. However, I couldn’t help but think about it a few times since then and when I came across this article I was overjoyed - not at what it says, which is a shame, but that it says it, which validated the concern I shared with them.
Have you experienced weight or size prejudice at the doctor’s office or by other health care professionals?
]]>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/business/02obese.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a25
I’m sad and disgusted.
]]>Any recommendations?
]]>In a report entitled “Three Imperatives for Improving US Health Care,” McKinsey & Company, one of America’s leading independent consultancies, explains that real reform must address these ... challenges:
Challenge: Reducing the cost of chronic disease. As McKinsey notes, behavior and lifestyle, such as tobacco use and obesity, account for two-thirds of all deaths and 20% of all health care spending in America. Take obesity, for example. An obese adult’s annual health care costs are nearly 200% higher than an average adult’s. The Agency for Health Care Research & Quality estimates that 58.9 million Americans are obese and 75.7 million are overweight. Clearly, lifestyle and behavior are major drivers of skyrocketing health care costs.
As part of the effort to reduce the cost of chronic disease, Congress could encourage greater use of cost-saving wellness programs and work to combat obesity in a manner similar to the campaign to reduce smoking.
http://cassidy.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=125&parentid=21§iontree=21,125&itemid=328
When we met with Bill Cassidy’s representative in Washington, DC, she told us that Cassidy endorses the Safeway model for an employee health program. One of the goals of the Safeway model is weight loss.
I appreciate any input on how to say something that might change his mind.
Elizabeth
]]>CHICAGO (AP) — The American Medical Association has taken action to support doctors’ ability to discuss obesity with their overweight patients.
Under a new policy adopted Tuesday, the AMA formally opposes efforts by advocacy groups to define obesity as a disability.
Doctors fear using that definition makes them vulnerable under disability laws to lawsuits from obese patients who don’t want their doctors to discuss their weight.
Doctors took the action at their annual meeting in Chicago.
In other action Tuesday, the AMA agreed to lobby for legislation to ban selling tobacco in pharmacies.
Health care reform issues are slated to come up later at the meeting, which ends Wednesday.
Obviously this stirs up troubling feelings in me. I don’t think that obesity is a disability (I just call it fat anyway), but I do think that the reasons behind keeping it from becoming one are hypocritical and highly suspect (e.g. to keep doctors from getting in trouble, to prevent insurance denial, to prevent people from being able to file for disability, etc.). What are your thoughts on this and the AMA’s position?
When Obama spoke to the AMA recently about working together for health care reform, he used a form of the term “obesity epidemic.” I didn’t appreciate that, especially considering his quality stance on preventative medicine (i.e. encouraging fitness, nutrition and education about both). What did you think about this?
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