I have just a minute for a heart-felt rant.
I just joined
ASDAH, the Association for Size Diversity and Health, this morning. What prompted me to do so this morning, when I had been thinking about it for a while, was a letter posted on the
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) web site on Monday, June 22, 2009. Here's what the letter says:
Dear Mr. President:
We urge you to act boldly and promptly to reverse our nation’s obesity epidemic.
The epidemic of overweight and obesity, which has engulfed millions of children and
adults over the past several decades, is undermining the nation’s health just as global
warming is undermining the planet’s health. The increased rates of obesity will negate
many of our nation’s investments in health-care and could actually condemn youths to
shorter life spans than their parents’. Tackling obesity could be one of the most powerful
means of improving Americans’ health and reducing health-care costs.
The harms caused by obesity are well-known: hypertension, heart attacks, strokes,
diabetes, cancer, and many others. Each year obesity causes tens of thousands of
premature deaths and tens of billions of dollars in avoidable medical costs. Obesity also
leads to heart-wrenching psychosocial problems, such as difficulty making friends,
stigmatization, and discrimination in employment.
What is lacking is not ideas for programs to combat obesity, but a national commitment
to establish a comprehensive federal effort to prevent and reverse obesity. That effort
should begin in the womb and infancy, extend to schools, then include workplaces,
doctors’ offices, and the general community.
The U.S. government could use as a model the United Kingdom’s broad and well-funded
anti-obesity strategy.1 That program involves various ministries in the national
government, local health agencies, new laws and regulations, and full use of the bully
pulpit.
We urge you to harness your imagination and commitment to reversing the obesity
epidemic by signing an Executive Order that would create a Presidential Commission
on Healthy Weights, Healthy Lives. That Commission would be charged with
developing a government-wide plan built on a sound scientific foundation. We would
welcome the opportunity to help you take on this challenging problem.
Respectfully,
The name of the individuals and organizations that signed the letter can be found on the PDF of the letter, posted on the link above. Just a couple of days ago, I commented on Shapely Prose that I was feeling the need for a Fat Acceptance's Most Wanted list, and this letter damm near provides the whole list, at least for the U.S. (MeMe Roth isn't on it -- she doesn't have the credentials as the others listed, but her one-woman-band organization, National Action Against Obesity, is).
After I joined ASDAH, I sent an email to the public policy contact about this. There is a vast wealth of knowledge and experience at ASDAH which can bring to bear a better and more impactful response than I would be able to generate on my own.
Also, my heart sank when I read about President Obama's remarks to the AMA regarding obesity. My hope is that he can realize scapegoating fat people isn't going to save money or improve health. This is going to take some mobilization and activism.
My heart sank even further when I read the list of organizations that signed on to the CSPI letter, some organizations that I thought did understand that declaring war on obesity doesn't work any better than any other war, unless your goal is to increase the collateral damage/body count.
These are organziations that I have supported, either financially or professionally, or was aware of the work that they did and generally considered them potential allies.
This isn't the full list of those signing the letter, just the ones that are making me sad and mad right now.
American Diabetes Association
American Public Health Association
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Food Policy Advocates
Directors of Health Promotion and Education
Hawaii State Department of Health
Multnomah County Health Department
National WIC Association
The Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health
United Fresh Produce Association (?!?)
Interestingly, although Kelly Brownell signed it, the Rudd Center wasn't listed in addition, (maybe they had either organizations or individuals sign).
So much for there being any allies in these organizations. Well, I'm sure there are people at the level that I am at in mine, who would count. At least my state's Health Department didn't sign. And, the California-based Prevention Institute/
Strategic Alliance didn't sign it, either. Maybe because the Prevention Institute's Executive Director, Larry Cohen, authored this article:
The O Word: Why the Focus on Obesity is Harmful to Community Health.
I'm off to work, so interwebs, go forth and find something joyous in the world to counterbalance the hatred and lies.
Comments (2)
Once again, someone (not you!) needs to be locked in a closet with J. Eric Oliver (or his book, anyway). To wit: "After all, getting Americans really to change their eating and exercise patterns would require a level of totalitarianism that would make even Kim Jong Il blush." And of course, we've seen that changing eating and exercise habits, short of radical starvation and enforced hard labor day in and day out, probably won't change most people's BMI category anyway.
So how far do they want to go? And why? If the objective is to Save the Government Money, I can't think of a worse way than to hyperregulate every second of each of 300 million people's lives. They want everyone to live to be 95 years old and be productive and happy and healthy right down to the final hours? It'll cost them. They can't even imagine how much.
@Meowser1 - Brilliant.
I really don't know what pains me the most in this letter, except this:
"Obesity also leads to heart-wrenching psychosocial problems, such as difficulty making friends, stigmatization, and discrimination in employment."
And so you want to fix it by...... increasing stigmitzation?
I haven't really had any difficulty making friends. It's you, CSPI, that seems to have difficulty making friends.
I would say that this letter is currently the main source of my psychosocial problems.