The goal for a Registered Dietitian is not to make a world full of skinny people, it’s to make a healthier community, and people come in all shapes and sizes – not just a size 2.
The obesity epidemic and ways to combat it have been on the forefront of many peoples’ minds for quite some time, but most recently with the First Lady’s childhood obesity campaign.
Has anyone realized though that obese people, or anyone that is moderately overweight are the victims of discrimination? A recent article in the New York Times shows how not only everyday people frown upon the overweight, but physicians as well. The very people that should be helping them! A cardiac surgeon and chief executive of the prestigious Cleveland Clinic said that if he could get away with it, he would refuse to hire anyone who is obese. The sad thing is, if he did do that, he could get away with it, because there is no federal legislation to protect the overweight. Its actually been studied that doctors provide overweight patients with different types of treatment based on their belief that the patient will not follow other instructions due to their weight.
According to this article, the sad part is that because this type of discrimination takes place, overweight people are less likely to visit the doctor due to possible judgments that could be made.
This type of discrimination is seen in other places as well including the corporate workforce, where people have discussed not being hired for jobs, based on their weight.
The stigma that is inflicted on overweight and obese people is very unfortunate and without proper education on both sides – the people passing judgment and the overweight –it will never change. Hopefully more articles like the one I cited above will raise people’s awareness level and also start to enlighten them that the issue is bigger than just too many Big Macs.
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