3rd National Obesity Student Meeting, Edmonton, June 20-23, 2012
Yesterday was the beginning of the 3rd Canadian Obesity Student Meeting here at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Regular readers may recall previous posts on the 1st meeting in Laval and the 2nd at the University of Ottawa. This year’s meeting, organised by the Canadian Obesity Network’s Students and New Professionals (CON-SNPs), once again brings well over a 100 of Canada’s brightest and finest students and trainees from across Canada for three days of intense scientific and social exchange. The local CON-SNP organisers, Becky Mercer, Nicole Glenn, and Angela Coppola, have done a tremendous job of pulling the program together. Thanks also to their faculty advisors Bill Colmers and Kim Raine. The over 100 oral presentations and posters at this meeting cover every conceivable topic from sedentariness and physical activity in kids to school interventions, maternal and infant health, food insecurity and aboriginal health, fat tissue biology and neuroscience, body image and mental health, cancer, inflammation, fatty liver and cardiovascular disease, as well as behavioural, medical and surgical treatments. Accompanying the conference is an art exhibit ‘The Big Idea‘, featuring a visual exploration of contemporary culture and obesity by ten Canadian, US and UK artists (selected from over 60 submissions), curated by Julian Forrest. The opening reception for The Big Idea, featuring the noted US performance artist, writer and sociologist, Kimberly Dark, will be held at the Peter Robertson Gallery, June 21, at 7.30 p.m. I look forward to a couple of exciting and engaging days here in Edmonton, AMS Edmonton, Alberta
Why Do We Expect Less From People With Obesity?
Today’s post is about a brief snippet taken from the 2012 auditions for Britain’s Got Talent, the UK equivalent of American Idol (complete with Simon Cowell in his usual role). As the video will not embed on my site – you will have to click here to watch it on YouTube. I ask you to watch it and send me your take on why the expectations of the panel and the audience (especially when they see Jonathan) were so low and their following response so enthusiastic. Would the expectations and response have been different had Jonathan not had an obvious weight problem? Why, does his weight even matter on a show that is about talent? I very much appreciate your responses. AMS Edmonton, Alberta Hat tip to Tony for pointing me to this video
How The Biggest Loser Promotes Weight Bias
Whatever the intentions of the producers, there is accumulating evidence that public display of weight loss as in competitions, challenges, and reality TV do little else than promote anti-weight bias by promoting stereotypes, unrealistic weight loss goals, and simplistic (diet and exercise) messages about possible solutions. This notion is again supported by a recent study by Domoff and colleagues from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA, published in OBESITY. The researchers examined how exposure to 40-min of The Biggest Loser affected participants’ levels of weight bias amongst 59 participants (majority of whom were white females), who were randomly assigned to either an experimental (one episode of The Biggest Loser) or control (one episode of a nature reality show) condition. Levels of weight bias as measured by the Implicit Associations Test (IAT), the Obese Person Trait Survey (OPTS), and the Anti-fat Attitudes scale (AFA) at baseline and following the episode viewing (1 week later), showed that viewers of The Biggest Loser had significantly higher levels of dislike of overweight individuals and more strongly believed that weight is controllable after the exposure. Interestingly, amongst the participants, those who had lower BMIs and were not trying to lose weight had significantly higher levels of dislike of overweight individuals following exposure to The Biggest Loser compared to similar participants in the control condition. These results clearly indicate that anti-fat attitudes increase after brief exposure to weight-loss reality television, especially perhaps in people with lower BMI. Given the impact that anti-weight bias has on all aspects of trying to find solutions to obesity (from public health messaging to funding for obesity research or treatments), not to mention its devastating emotional and physical impact on people living with excess weight, perhaps it is time to revisit social norms and acceptability of this form of entertainment. These shows are not a solution – they are part of the problem! AMS Vancouver, BC
Why Addressing Weight Bias is the #1 Strategic Goal of the Obesity Network
Regular readers will recall a host of previous posts on the issue of weight bias and discrimination. Canadian Obesity Network members will hopefully also be aware that for the past four years, addressing weight bias and speaking out against weight-based discrimination has been the #1 strategic goal of the network. Rather than listing all of the activities that the Network has undertaken to address this issues (the latest one being the launch of the image gallery “Picture Perfect at Every Size“), in today’s post I would like to share a story and explain why I continue to believe that this is the central problem at the the very heart of finding solutions to the obesity issue. I remember this as though it was yesterday. I had just arrived with my family in Canada, having accepted a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Obesity at McMaster University. I was just discovering Canadian television and was quite impressed the first time I saw Peter Mansbridge on the CBC’s “The National”. Interestingly, that evening one of the news items that caught my attention was an announcement by then Health Minister Anne McLellan, that the Government would spend $15 million to support obesity research – certainly good news for an obesity researcher just arriving in Canada. This brief sense of having arrived in the right place at the right time, however, was shaken by what followed – a scathing, derisive, and contemptuous commentary by Rex Murphy, Canada’s premier TV commentator – not known to mince words. In brief, as far as I can recall, the gist of his commentary was that this funding for obesity research was another perfect example of wasteful spending of tax-payer dollars. To paraphrase his words, “so now the Government of Canada is spending millions of dollars to show that Canadians get fat by eating fast food and lounging in front of their TVs“. I don’t remember the exact wording or the many ‘humorous’ angles that Rex Murphy took in this typical meandering monologue but I do recall the immediate effect it had on me. In my mind I could see Canadians across the country nodding and agreeing with Murphy, that spending any money on obesity research was indeed a complete waste – we already know the reasons: ‘gluttony and sloth’ – what’s there to research? It became blindingly obvious that Rex Murphy was simply stating aloud what most people… Read More »
Changing the Face of Obesity in Canada: Network Launches Image Gallery
This morning, I am speaking on the issue of weight bias and discrimination at the Journées annuelles de santé publique (Québec), in a session called: Regard sur la discrimination et les préjugés à l’égard du pods. It is perhaps only fitting, that today also marks the launch of an image gallery by the Canadian Obesity Network, Canada’s national network of obesity researchers, health professionals and other stakeholders. The image gallery features the first set of a, hopefully growing, collection of non-stereotypical images representing Canadians living with overweight and obesity, which are intended for use by media and others, who report on or talk about obesity. As noted in a previous post, the stereotypical depiction of ‘headless’ torsos that generally accompany mediate reports on obesity (and unfortunately even find their way into talks by obesity researchers and health professionals), are not only demeaning but very much promote and propagate the negative image of people living with excess weight, a key driver of the widespread weight bias and discrimination that obese people face everyday. The purpose of the image gallery according to the Network’s website: “In an effort to reduce pejorative portrayals of overweight and obese persons in media reporting, we have created an Image Gallery that provides a collection of photographs that portray obese individuals in ways that are positive and non-stereotypical. These images provide a fair and non-biased representation of youth and adults who are overweight and obese. Our gallery can help promote accurate coverage of obesity-related topics in news reporting and challenge harmful weight-based stereotypes.” All of the depicted individuals have most enthusiastically volunteered their images to the Network (see terms of use). They are to be commended as it requires a considerable courage and commitment to step forward for such a cause. The Network is also grateful to photographer Robert Tinga, who generously gave his time and expertise to these shoots. My sincere hope is that we will soon start seeing more images like these, that reflect the fact that the obesity discussion is about real people, real families, real Canadians – not just anonymous headless torsos. AMS Montréal, QC
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