In part 1 we discussed a New York Times article about so-called “Ob*sity First Medicine” (OFM) which suggests that higher weight people with health issues should be targeted for weight loss treatment (in this case specifically the new GLP-1 diet drugs) treating them differently than thinner people with the same symptoms/presentations/diagnoses. Today we’re going to look at an opinion piece in WaPo that discusses the same phenomenon. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare...
Oct 30, 2024•18 min
Many of you reached out to me about two articles. One in the New York Times by Gina Kolata about so-called “Ob*sity First Medicine” - OFM (you may remember Kolata from a different article I wrote about that essentially lobbied for insurance coverage for weight loss drugs and failed to disclose that each person interviewed was on the payroll of the drug companies.) Another an opinion piece in the Washington Post by Leana S. Wen. We’ll discuss the NYT article in part 1, along with some general iss...
Oct 26, 2024•10 min
I received a reader question from Annilyn who said: “My doctor just suggested that I try the AspireAssist to lose weight. I didn’t want to Google it because I think it will be really triggering but based on what he described, I just don’t think this thing can be real, can it? Will you write about it?” I’m happy to write about this weight loss device Annilyn, and mostly I’m happy because it seems to be off the market, but we’ll get to that. I think it’s worth looking at the history and research a...
Oct 23, 2024•9 min
In part one we looked at a lawsuit being brought by Jaclyn Bjorklund against Novo Nordisk (maker of Semaglutide - brand names Ozempic/Rybelsus/Wegovy) and Eli Lilly (maker of Tirzepatide - brand names Mounjaro/Zepbound) for the severe gastrointestinal side effects she experienced after taking Ozempic and then Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes. At the end I made the point that, for some people, the negative side effects don’t end when they stop taking the medications and for others, the damage has bee...
Oct 19, 2024•7 min
I received requests from a number of you to write about this situation. Jaclyn Bjorklund, a 44 year old woman from Louisiana is suing both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Content note: this piece will include details of severe gastrointestinal symptoms and conditions. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe
Oct 16, 2024•8 min
This is the final part of the series about the study “ Eating disorder risk during behavioral weight management in adults with overw*ight or ob*sity: A systematic review with meta-analysis” by Jebeile et al, 2023. In part 1 we talked about overarching issues with the science, in part 2 we talked about general issues with this specific study, and in part 3 we’ll discuss the specific claims made. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Oct 12, 2024•12 min
In part 1 we discussed the overarching issues with “Eating disorder risk during behavioral weight management in adults with overw*ight or ob*sity: A systematic review with meta-analysis” by Jebeile et al, 2023. Today we’ll begin to dig into the specific issues with this study. Content note: in this piece I’ll be talking about eating disorders, including specific behaviors, and weight loss methods that include eating disorder behaviors. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthc...
Oct 09, 2024•6 min
The study we’re looking at in this series is “Eating disorder risk during behavioral weight management in adults with overw*ight or ob*sity: A systematic review with meta-analysis” by Jebeile et al, 2023 In Part 1 we’ll look at overarching issues and in parts 2 and 3 we’ll dig into the specifics of the study. For this section I reached out to Deb Burgard, PhD and Fellow of the Academy of Eating Disorders for her thoughts and I’m super grateful for her contributions. Get full access to Weight and...
Oct 05, 2024•7 min
This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter ! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! I recently wrote abou t an NBC News article that included a quote from Tom Hildebrandt, PsyD who runs the Hildebrandt Lab at Mount Sinai in New York, which houses Mount Sinai’s Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders. I promised that I would write a separate article about their troubling conceptualization of higher-weight as an eating disorder, and this is that...
Oct 02, 2024•9 min
In part 1 we started exploring the concerning new CDC-Recognized Family Healthy Weight Programs and the issues with their requirement that “Family Healthy Weight Programs (FHWPs) are safe, effective treatments for childhood ob*sity.*” Today we’ll talk about the requirement that these programs be “Appropriate for childhood ob*sity” Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Sep 28, 2024•6 min
I wrote earlier about the disastrous American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines, written predominantly by people who were either taking money from the weight loss industry or personally/through their employers selling weight loss to kids . I also did a deep dive on the serious issues with their recommendations of intensive behavioral interventions starting at 2 years old, diet drugs at 12, and weight loss surgeries at 13 as well as questionable claims around potential harm and eating disorders ri...
Sep 25, 2024•11 min
I got this question from reader Mina: I was in a discussion about weight-neutral health and now I feel a bit confused. I practice what I always thought was weight-neutral health and I was chatting with a friend who does the same. She mentioned Intuitive Eating and I said that I knew a lot of people that worked great for, but that it didn’t work for me and before I could finish she said that in order to be weight-neutral health it has to have intuitive eating and joyful movement. That can’t be ri...
Sep 21, 2024•5 min
In part 1 we looked at the major issues with the ways that children are labeled “overw*ight” and “ob*se”. In part 2 we’ll look at more of the nuances. Again, Deb Burgard, PhD, FAED was incredibly helpful in putting together this piece. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe
Sep 18, 2024•8 min
I got the following question from reader Lynn: “I know that they use BMI for kids and I know that it’s different than what they do for adults, but I don’t understand how. Maybe you could write a newsletter about it?” Indeed I can Lynn, thanks for the suggestion! This gets a bit complex, so it’s going to be a two-part series. In part 1 we’ll look at the basics. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Sep 14, 2024•12 min
As updated COVID vaccines and this year's flu vaccines roll out, I got a request from several readers to post about the need for longer needles for higher-weight people’s vaccinations. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe
Sep 11, 2024•4 min
While progress toward weight-neutrality is absolutely being made, our healthcare is predominantly based in the weight-centric paradigm. This paradigm currently considers simply existing in a higher-weight body to be a disease and weight loss to be the cure. (Now, there is no shame in having a disease, it’s just that simply existing in a larger body does not qualify .) One of the most dangerous harms within this paradigm is the hypothetical future thin person fallacy. Get full access to Weight an...
Sep 07, 2024•5 min
Eil Lilly has recently announced that they are going to sell their weight loss drug, Zepbound, directly to consumers who can’t get insurance coverage and don’t qualify for other cost-lowering programs. They are going to do that through their private pharmacy Lilly Direct. The subject of whether drug companies should have their own pharmacies is a topic for another day. I’ve previously done deep dives into the research and claims made about these weight loss medications . I do not think they are ...
Sep 04, 2024•7 min
I got this question from reader Jenn: I was hate watching a workshop about “ob*sity” treatment and one of the people on the panel said that “ob*sity” isn’t a disease unless it impacts someone’s health. I don’t understand how that works? Thanks for the question Jenn. You don’t understand how it works because it doesn’t work. This is fully ludicrous and I’ve seen them make the claim in real time as well. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Aug 31, 2024•7 min
In Part 1 , by reader request, I began a discussion of the NBC news article “Weight loss drugs like Wegovy may trigger eating disorders in some patients, doctors warn”. Today we'll complete that discussion. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Aug 28, 2024•7 min
Many of you asked me to write about the NBC News Article “Weight loss drugs like Wegovy may trigger eating disorders in some patients, doctors warn” by Liz Szabo, Marina Kopf and Akshay Syal, M.D. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe
Aug 24, 2024•9 min
This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter ! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! I received this question from reader Louise: I see you and other people talk about the weight loss industry, but what does that mean? Is it just drug companies and places like weight watchers? Do doctors who recommend weight loss count? Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Aug 21, 2024•5 min
In part 1 we talked about a Medscape Today article that reader Antoni sent me about weight stigma in healthcare called “Weight Stigma is Bad Medicine.” The author, Mengyi (Zed) Zha, MD made important points about weight stigma, some of which aren’t often aren’t made. So there’s a lot of good in the article, which I appreciate. What Dr. Zha has written is brave (and she will undoubtedly get criticism from those who implicit or explicit anti-fat bias drives their thoughts about and interactions wi...
Aug 17, 2024•9 min
Reader Antoni sent me the following question. I saw this article posted on LinkedIn (Weight Stigma is Bad Medicine by Mengyi (Zed) Zha, MD in MedPageToday). I feel like the author made good points but it still doesn’t feel quite right to me. What do you think? Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe
Aug 14, 2024•4 min
In part 1 we started looking at a company called PrescribeFit that is focused on getting referrals from orthopedics office of higher-weight patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) issues. We looked at the scientific basis they are using as well as their promises around efficacy. Today, we’ll look at what they have available for providers. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Aug 03, 2024•9 min
This came up in our monthly subscriber Ask Me Anything and then from another email from reader Julie who wrote: “I hurt my knee playing soccer. After a lot of of imaging I was told it wasn’t surgical. I asked for a referral to physical therapy and my ortho referred me to PrescribeFit. I assumed it was physical therapy but it seems like it’s some kind of online diet thing. Can you tell me what’s going on?” I can try! Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/sub...
Jul 31, 2024•10 min
Many of you have reached out asking me to write about Brandi Mallory and Mandisa Hundley’s deaths. Today is the day I’m going to do that. I want to start by saying that their deaths, regardless of cause, are a tragedy and my heart goes out to them and their families, friends, and loved ones. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Jul 27, 2024•9 min
I got the following question from reader Kyrie: I started having pain in my knee after I jumped out of a truck and twisted it. I went to my regular doctor and he referred me to an orthopedist. He (the orthopedist) told me that the only thing that could possibly help was to lose weight. I asked the question that I learned from you “what would you recommend for a thin patient in this situation?” The orthopedist said “I don’t have to talk to thin patients about knee pain.” Obviously that’s a comple...
Jul 24, 2024•6 min
Reader Kellisa sent me the following question:I appreciate all the different things you write about, but some of my favorite newsletters are where you show how people and studies are paid for by the diet industry. I know this was a while ago, but I just found the newsletter you wrote about where you figured out that the person behind that “bill of rights” was actually a lobbyist for Novo Nordisk and I decided to ask this question. How do you find this stuff out? Are there any tips you can give t...
Jul 13, 2024•9 min
As I discuss the issues of GLP-1 agonist and GLP-1/GIP co-agonist weight loss drugs Semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound)I’ve been increasingly hearing from people who are engaged in practices with these drugs that are not remotely evidence based. Get full access to Weight and Healthcare at weightandhealthcare.substack.com/subscribe...
Jul 10, 2024•8 min
This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter ! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! Reader Shauna asked “I just saw an article about the Body Roundness Index, is that as silly as I think it is?” The Body Roundness Index seems to be the weight loss industry’s response to finally having to (at least begin to) admit that the Body Mass Index (BMI) is nonsense. The BMI is a ratio of weight and height that has been used to pathologize bodies based on their size...
Jul 03, 2024•7 min
