Back to Videos

A Plea for Détente in the War on Obesity

The war on obesity is causing untold damage to people of all sizes. By stigmatizing larger bodies, it’s creating stress and supporting discrimination. By inducing us to invest in so far useless efforts at weight control, it has resulted in rampant preoccupation with food and weight, disordered eating habits and billions in wasted dollars. And, by focusing the medical community on fat over other factors, it’s causing us to overlook more pernicious – and more curable – sources of disease. Here’s the final irony – it’s probably also made us fatter than we would have been otherwise. This video by Dr. Linda Bacon will convince you: it’s time to put health – and caring – back at the heart of health care.