Friday, May 8, 2009

Weight Bias in Healthcare: An Important Clinical Concern

Medscape Today, a news service from WebMD, today posted a piece by Dr. Rebecca Puhl, Director of Research and Weight Stigma Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. (I'm a huge, huge fan of the Rudd Center and hate that I didn't know about their work before I was basically done at Yale. There's lots of legal research-y stuff to be done for them. In fact, one of my first-year professors, Robert Post, is counsel on briefs with them.)

Anyway, Dr. Puhl's piece discusses the Center's recent informational videos about weight bias. Everyone should watch them ASAP. You can see them on YouTube and you can also order a free dvd by emailing the Center.

Here's the first paragraph of her article:

Weight Bias in Healthcare: An Important Clinical Concern

Despite increased attention to the obesity epidemic, little has been done to address the bias, prejudice, and discrimination that obese children and adults face every day. Weight bias is prevalent in our society, but it often goes unnoticed and ignored. As a result, overweight and obese individuals face discrimination in employment, barriers in education, stereotypes in the media, stigma in interpersonal relationships, and even bias from healthcare providers. This unfair treatment reduces quality of life for obese persons and jeopardizes their emotional and physical health.

Click here to read the full piece from Medscape Today.

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