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weight bias
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2020-08-01
Weight Bias and COVID-19
It may seem strange to reference a study about obesity and H1N1 but if you are a member of the fat community it makes complete sense to reference medical mistreatment to understand what is happening to fat bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Obesity is said to be one of the risk factors with the highest death rate for COVID-19. As a fat asthmatic, I find it hard to believe that my body fat will be the death of me faster than my inflammation prone lungs. What I and others living in large bodies know is that medical professionals carry a traumatic and often dangerous bias against us. We swap war stories in the comment section of social media posts about the multiple times doctors have mistreated, ignored, or nearly killed us due to their often blatant ignorance. This study shows just how that bias has resulted in the death of patients before and how that bias may be the reason more obese patients die from COVID-19 then thinner patients. -
2020-07-30
Institutional Fatphobia
This post shared publically through Instagram discusses the issues that fat people face when seeing a doctor. This was shared in response to not only the weight bias spurred on by the pandemic but to highlight the institutionalization of fatphobia in the medicine. The media and health experts have been having a field day pointing the finger at obesity for death rates and complications for months. All while toting the advice to lose weight and their preferred diets to do so. Despite the fact diets fail 90% of the time no matter how dedicated the individual or that obesity is not a condition but a symptom of conditions that put people at a higher risk from COVID-19 complications such as other health issues, poverty, access to medical care, access to nutritional foods, access to sick pay and sick leave, and so on.