Wednesday, November 09, 2005
The Politics Of Fat
Fraters Libertas has a pretty funny post about the political manifesto of something called National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance They have produced a declaration of rights that's interesting reading
- To non-discrimination in the health care system due to weight size or illness category;
- To have quality medical care, social services, and adequate physical accommodations / equipment/testing facilities in the health care setting;
- To have full explanation of all health procedures; to help choose the modality of treatment; and to refuse treatment (including calorie-restrictive diets);
- To have an advocate, either an individual or organizational representative of our choice, to ask questions for us, to listen to what we cannot hear; and to be with us;
- To refuse participation in weight loss programs of all kinds, including diets, surgery, aversive psychological conditioning, and chemical regimes, without jeopardizing access to other treatment and care;
- To adequate and appropriate analgesia and anesthesia when necessary in the opinion of the patient;
To freedom from ridicule, coercion, and harassment from all care givers in the health delivery system; - To be treated by individuals who are accurately informed about the latest research in the areas of bariatrics, nutrition, metabolism, and genetics with regard to "obesity";
- To privacy and confidentiality of all medical records.
My feeling about this are very mixed. Obesity has health consequences, though I think they are exaggerated and overblown. If one choses to be obese, one must be willing to accept the consequences.
The problem, to my mind, lies not in consequences being associated with obesity, but in third party payer healthcare system that does not make it possible for obese people to in fact bear that burden, by paying money. Instead our healthcare system tries to coerce them behaviorally.
Healthcare is rapidly becoming just another means to "tell people what to do." The only way to remove its ability to do so is by removing the third party payers, or at least having the system allow for one to opt out of third party payers and pay on their own.
