Episode Details

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This is part of a three-part end of the year series that will discuss the past, present, and future of diet culture.

A common refrain is that being higher-weight is “linked” to health issues. We have discussed before how, even if higher-weight people do experience health issues(s) more frequently, that doesn’t mean that being higher-weight causes the health issues, nor does it indicate that weight loss would decrease the risk. Another variable or variables could be what is causing the health issues, including weight cycling, weight stigma, and healthcare inequalities. Mistaking correlation between weight and health issues for causation is part of what creates a harmful (sometimes fatal) cycle wherein the healthcare system creates weight cycling, weight stigma, and inequalities, then blames fat bodies for the negative outcomes causes by them, then uses those negative outcomes to justify more weight cycling, weight stigma, and access inequalities.

But there are more layers to this. The focus of the healthcare profession is often on fat people’s current habits (the experience of having not just our weight, but any health problems we have blamed on (what they assume are) our behaviors and  told to “eat less and exercise more” by a doctor who didn’t have any information about what we ate or how much we exercise.)  Today I want to talk about specific experiences that have been foisted onto fat people in the past that my impact our current health and for which our bodies will typically be blamed.

Low-fat dieting

The concept of low fat dieting has been around since the 1940’s and is still recommended/followed by some people (including healthcare practitioners) today, but it had its heyday starting in the 1980’s. This trend suggests that eating low or no-fat foods would lead to weight loss. It saw a significant rise in low and no-fat versions of foods, everything from fat-free sour cream to the ubiquitous “Snackwells” products. There is not a single study suggesting that low-fat dieting actually leads to long-term, significant weight loss. My question here is about the harm. In addition to the harm of weight cycling, this seems like a way of eating that is custom created to trigger and/or exacerbate blood sugar issues for a couple of reasons. First, because the low and no-fat products often had more sugar, and second because fat helps to mitigate blood sugar spikes. While there is nothing wrong with sugar, in someone with a predisposition to developing blood sugar disregulation, eating more sugar or carbohydrates with less fat can exacerbate blood sugar issues.

Lack of insurance coverage

Prior to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare,) health insurance companies in the US were, in many circumstances, allowed to refuse to cover “pre-existing conditions.” One of those “conditions” was a high Body Mass Index. This meant that insurance companies could simply refuse to offer insurance to higher-weight people. Of course, there are many people who still can’t access health insurance in the states (which is inexcusable) but when it comes to fat people, we have to wonder how many health issues came from a lack of access to care.

Delayed care

Delays of care can cause missed diagnoses, and worsened health issues