Supposed Advocates Really Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

FOSTER CITY, Calif. - Aug. 16, 2014 - PRLog -- A special communication* that was published in the April, 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) was severely criticized by two so-called obesity advocacy organizations, the Obesity Society and the Obesity Action Coalition. Why was it criticized? Because the original writers believe that obesity is NOT a disease and that two diet drugs currently being reviewed by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) should not be marketed without more convincing evidence about the cardiovascular safety of the medication.

Alright, let’s get this straight. Two organizations that are supposed to represent the best interests of people of larger body sizes want fat people to be medicalized and want to allow pharmaceutical companies to release drugs that may:

Have only up to a 7% success rate
Have cardiovascular risks

Definitions

Advocate: a person who actively supports or favors a cause

Lobbyist: a person who attempts to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies

If you research the source of funding for the two dissenting organizations, the Obesity Society and the Obesity Action Coalition, it becomes apparent that they are the best advocates that money can buy for the diet industry, drug manufacturers and bariatric surgeons.

Furthermore, these are the organizations that are being enlisted by federal agencies to represent the interests of people with larger body sizes as stake holders. Do these organizations represent the people or those that would profit from them?  These organizations do not represent the best interest of people of large body size.

These organizations went so far as to run a story with the headline, "Nothing about us, without us," the rallying call of the disability rights movement, and proudly pointed to the fact that two people who had sought weight loss had told their stories at their meeting.

The cynical cooptation of language that activists have used to fight stigma ("people first" language, and "nothing about us without us") by organizations whose agenda is to smooth the way for corporate profits is disgraceful.  The "War on Obesity" is a war on obese people, and the spoils are more bodies to widen markets.  If people want to support the health of higher-weight people, the first step is to work closely with members of the community to understand our lives and needs. NAAFA and ASDAH stand ready to educate and advocate.

*The New Weight-Loss Drugs, Lorcaserin and Phentermine-Topiramate Slim Pickings?, Woloshin and Schwartz, April 2014 JAMA

Founded in 1969, NAAFA is a non-profit human rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination based on body size and provide fat people with the tools for self-empowerment through public education, advocacy, and member support.

On the web:  www.naafa.org

The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) is an international professional organization committed to education, research, and the provision of services which enhance health and well-being, and which are free from weight-based assumptions and weight discrimination. Learn more about ASDAH on the organization's website at: www.sizediversityandhealth.org