I recently wrote about the ridiculous and fatphobic guidelines put forward by Canadian Health Professionals in a desperate bid to save the income they make from "weight loss" despite the fact that they completely fail at it.
Now a group of dietitians has started a petition asking their professional association, Dietitians of Canada, not to accept these guidelines.
They write, in part,
Studies need to account for weight discrimination rather than weight alone. When studies accounted for weight discrimination, the relationship between high BMI and negative outcomes became negligible. And yet, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts cited obesity as a risk factor for poorer outcomes...
We can improve outcomes for people living in larger bodies if health care providers provide the same degree of care when diagnosing, testing and treating medical conditions, similarly to thin patients.
If Dietitians of Canada (DC) is committed to have diversity and inclusion shape the future of the association, DC would critically evaluate the current evidence that not only highlights the harm caused by weight-normative approaches, but also the doublethink made by OC.1. DC should not endorse the o**sity guidelines by OC because many RDs oppose them. 2. DC would commit to learning from grassroot organizations (eg. Association for Size Diversity and Health and National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance) that have been advocating for the wellbeing of people living in larger bodies for many years. Additional notes:
Action Items:O**sity is used throughout the article deliberately to recognize how hurtful and stigmatizing the term is to people living in larger bodies. Many grassroot organizations have spoken out against the labeling of o**sity as a disease.
Please consider signing and sharing the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/dietitians-of-canada-should-not-endorse-the-clinical-practice-guidelines-by-obesity-canada
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Hi, I'm Ragen Chastain. Speaker, Writer, Dancer, Choreographer, Marathoner, Soon to be Iron-distance triathlete, Activist, Fat Person. View all posts by Ragen Chastain
