Many fat people "not that sick at all" according to Canadian doctor
According to this article in The Vancouver Sun, at least one more doctor out there is finally starting to get that fat is not a definitive indicator of ill health.
After reading the article I Googled Dr. Arya Sharma and found his "Obesity Notes" blog. There were some interesting articles, and while I'm not convinced Dr. Sharma's views are entirely in line with my own (and those professed within the fat rights movement), he does tend to say some things that make me want to stand up and cheer. Notably:
Women are clearly far more susceptible to this “healthy-weights” messaging and at any given time are likely to show more dissatisfaction, concern and preoccupation with their weight than men. While most of this weight obsession may well be fueled by the unachievable “ideal” of body weight promoted by the fashion and cosmetics industry, it is not unusual to hear “better health” as a justification for openly engaging in unhealthy weight-loss behaviours.
and
Here is my message to all health professionals and policy makers concerned with obesity: let us define obesity in terms of its actual impact on health - let us not recommend weight loss to those, who have nothing to gain.
At this point, I'm cautiously optimistic that we may have another health professional ally in Dr. Sharma. What are your thoughts?
What is an activist? | Thoughts on Fat Camp?
Posted by CarrieP on March 18, 2009
Dr. Sharma is also among doctors who are calling for government (Canada) regulation of unscrupulous weight loss products and supplements. According to this story, he said:
"Any product that says that if you use it for a while, it will cause permanent weight loss is nonsense because that doesn’t work even for surgery, Sharma says. “If I staple your stomach and then unstaple it after 10 years, the weight is going to come back,” Sharma says.
Sharma may not be entirely aligned with our views, but I'd take him over the Walter Willett kinds of doctors any day.
Some fat people are "not all that sick?" How about not sick at all?
That's exactly what I was thinking!
Is the article perfect? Absolutely not. But it is MSM, what can we expect? They operated first for the sponsors, second for the public. It is a good step in the right direction so I will take it. In fact, I will share it. Thanks for posting it!
"Fat can be beautiful. Intolerance is ALWAYS ugly!"