Hey, Feds, Weight a Minute...
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 10/26/2004 TCS
The federal government recently ruled that taxpayers will foot the bills for weight loss surgeries and other weight loss treatments for Medicare patients, if medical evidence can demonstrates their effectiveness. This is the door opening to broader obesity-related coverages, as a September 30th New York Times article revealed. According to Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, the national health insurance trade organization, everyone's premiums will be impacted if, as expected, private and employer-based health insurance plans follow suit. It's anticipated that as coverage becomes more readily available, more Americans will seek the surgeries and the numbers performed will skyrocket from this year's estimated 144,000 surgeries. So will the costs.
The American Obesity Association, whose sponsors include bariatric surgical groups, weight loss drug companies and weight loss programs like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, already succeeded in April 2002 getting the IRS to designate weight loss treatments, including weight loss surgeries, as tax deductible and hence government sanctioned. As our nation faces rising healthcare costs, concerns over troubled Medicare and social security programs and an aging population, many are asking if our healthcare dollars are best spent on these surgeries and where's the proof they're beneficial?
The "proof" appeared to come last week as headlines announced a new study which "validates" obesity surgeries and found them "beneficial" and "can save lives."
The "study" found nothing of the kind. But it did point out how deadly and costly it can be to base healthcare policies and healthcare decisions on bad science.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Love Your Body Day fights weight bias
Love Your Body Day fights weight bias
Student suggests amending UT's discrimination policy
By Kristin Butler
Laura Gladney-Lemon said she has put up with "fat bias" long enough. After suffering ridicule from people throughout her life, she has decided to take a stand to raise awareness of weight-based discrimination on campus.
"At least once a month, someone on UT campus will be overtly mean to me based on what I look like," the Student Government graduate representative said. "I've had food thrown at me, and people will yell 'pig' or make pig noises at me."
Instead of falling victim to harassment, Gladney-Lemon is proposing that height and weight be added to the non-discrimination policy at the University. In a few weeks, she plans to introduce her height and weight resolution to SG, and then hopefully to the UT administration.
Her efforts reflect her active role in the annual Love Your Body Day, which was recognized Wednesday nationwide. As part of the celebration on campus, "fat rebel" Marilyn Wann, who led a 1999 protest in San Francisco that successfully urged the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a height and weight anti-discrimination ordinance in May 2000, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people, comprised of both women and men.
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Student suggests amending UT's discrimination policy
By Kristin Butler
Laura Gladney-Lemon said she has put up with "fat bias" long enough. After suffering ridicule from people throughout her life, she has decided to take a stand to raise awareness of weight-based discrimination on campus.
"At least once a month, someone on UT campus will be overtly mean to me based on what I look like," the Student Government graduate representative said. "I've had food thrown at me, and people will yell 'pig' or make pig noises at me."
Instead of falling victim to harassment, Gladney-Lemon is proposing that height and weight be added to the non-discrimination policy at the University. In a few weeks, she plans to introduce her height and weight resolution to SG, and then hopefully to the UT administration.
Her efforts reflect her active role in the annual Love Your Body Day, which was recognized Wednesday nationwide. As part of the celebration on campus, "fat rebel" Marilyn Wann, who led a 1999 protest in San Francisco that successfully urged the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a height and weight anti-discrimination ordinance in May 2000, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people, comprised of both women and men.
-snip-
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Obese Women Start Diets Young
Obese Women Start Diets Young
Research Indicates that Semi-Starvation Leads to Weight Gain
BY Allison Young
Contribution Writer
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
A fat person is not necessarily a lazy person.
A recent study by Joanna Ikeda, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, indicated that of 149 women surveyed, all of whom are considered clinically obese, two-thirds had been on their first diet by the age of 14.
This dispels the myth that the condition of overweight people is caused by laziness and inattention to their health and appearance. In fact, those who had gone on more diets tended to have higher body mass indexes.
A person is considered obese if hisbody mass index (BMI) is 30 or above. An index of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal.
The women who participated in this survey had BMIs of 55 to 70 and ranged from 250 to 600 pounds.
“Many of these women started out at weights that were not necessarily considered overweight. By reducing their calorie intake to levels of semi-starvation, they were able to temporarily reduce their weight,” Ikeda said. “However, because your body cannot maintain itself at calorie levels below 1400, many women end up bingeing on food, returning their weight to its original level, and often, even increasing on their original size.”
This creates a vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting, often ultimately propelling the individual’s weight far beyond its original level.
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Research Indicates that Semi-Starvation Leads to Weight Gain
BY Allison Young
Contribution Writer
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
A fat person is not necessarily a lazy person.
A recent study by Joanna Ikeda, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, indicated that of 149 women surveyed, all of whom are considered clinically obese, two-thirds had been on their first diet by the age of 14.
This dispels the myth that the condition of overweight people is caused by laziness and inattention to their health and appearance. In fact, those who had gone on more diets tended to have higher body mass indexes.
A person is considered obese if hisbody mass index (BMI) is 30 or above. An index of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal.
The women who participated in this survey had BMIs of 55 to 70 and ranged from 250 to 600 pounds.
“Many of these women started out at weights that were not necessarily considered overweight. By reducing their calorie intake to levels of semi-starvation, they were able to temporarily reduce their weight,” Ikeda said. “However, because your body cannot maintain itself at calorie levels below 1400, many women end up bingeing on food, returning their weight to its original level, and often, even increasing on their original size.”
This creates a vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting, often ultimately propelling the individual’s weight far beyond its original level.
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'Ample' flier sues airline for saying he needed 2 seats
'Ample' flier sues airline for saying he needed 2 seats
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 23, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle
Chronicle Sections
An Oakland man who describes himself as being of "ample proportion" is suing Southwest Airlines, accusing the carrier of humiliating him by asking him to buy a second seat.
Lionel Bea, 40, said in a lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court that a Southwest employee asked him whether he could fit in one seat before boarding a flight from Oakland to Los Angeles on Sept. 28. When Bea, a Southwest frequent flier, said, "Yes, is there a problem?" the employee said he would have to sell him another seat because of company policy "regarding passengers too large to fit in one seat," according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month.
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Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 23, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle
Chronicle Sections
An Oakland man who describes himself as being of "ample proportion" is suing Southwest Airlines, accusing the carrier of humiliating him by asking him to buy a second seat.
Lionel Bea, 40, said in a lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court that a Southwest employee asked him whether he could fit in one seat before boarding a flight from Oakland to Los Angeles on Sept. 28. When Bea, a Southwest frequent flier, said, "Yes, is there a problem?" the employee said he would have to sell him another seat because of company policy "regarding passengers too large to fit in one seat," according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month.
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Thursday, September 16, 2004
It's the Fitness, Stupid
It's the Fitness, Stupid
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 09/16/2004
TCS
Consumers were left more confused than ever when the media reported on two obesity-related studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association last week. One seemed to find it was more important to be fit than thin for your heart health; the other that it was more important to be thin than fit to prevent diabetes. As Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle wrote, the two studies disagreed and settled "nothing" in the debate over what matters most to a person's health: his overall fitness or his weight.
But in fact, the controversy has already been repeatedly answered in the scientific literature. The trouble is, it's not what a lot of people want to hear...and others without science backgrounds don't realize.
These side-by-side JAMA studies provided an invaluable opportunity for the media to help consumers sort through medical information and come away with a very important message: not all studies are created equal.
Most anything can be and is called a "study" nowadays and many aren't actual clinical studies or even examining real people. That surprises many consumers. Medical news is all too often taken at face value. But before believing headlines or making any changes or decisions about one's health, it's important to know that some studies are sounder and have more validity than others. So those "should have more influence," said Dr. Peter Jones, an associate professor of medicine at Baylor. A study also needs to be considered in light of the entire body of scientific evidence.
When we look at these two JAMA studies, their differences quickly become apparent.
-snip
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 09/16/2004
TCS
Consumers were left more confused than ever when the media reported on two obesity-related studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association last week. One seemed to find it was more important to be fit than thin for your heart health; the other that it was more important to be thin than fit to prevent diabetes. As Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle wrote, the two studies disagreed and settled "nothing" in the debate over what matters most to a person's health: his overall fitness or his weight.
But in fact, the controversy has already been repeatedly answered in the scientific literature. The trouble is, it's not what a lot of people want to hear...and others without science backgrounds don't realize.
These side-by-side JAMA studies provided an invaluable opportunity for the media to help consumers sort through medical information and come away with a very important message: not all studies are created equal.
Most anything can be and is called a "study" nowadays and many aren't actual clinical studies or even examining real people. That surprises many consumers. Medical news is all too often taken at face value. But before believing headlines or making any changes or decisions about one's health, it's important to know that some studies are sounder and have more validity than others. So those "should have more influence," said Dr. Peter Jones, an associate professor of medicine at Baylor. A study also needs to be considered in light of the entire body of scientific evidence.
When we look at these two JAMA studies, their differences quickly become apparent.
-snip
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