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Dec. 11th, 2022 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonlady7via https://ift.tt/ftBDdiW
timemachineyeah https://timemachineyeah.tumblr.com/post/701662013593665536/we-have-proved-there-is-an-association-between :
timemachineyeah https://timemachineyeah.tumblr.com/post/701659377207263232/i-think-the-thing-that-drives-me-the-most-batshit :
I think the thing that drives me the most batshit about the medical fatphobia conversation is that the burden of proof feels so exactly backwards. Just from an obvious best practices standpoint???
Things like intentional malnourishment, intentionally incapacitating vital organs through surgery, denial of potentially lifesaving medical care until those things are done, etc.
Those are all pretty extreme. The kinds of things it feels like a “first do no harm” system should have a lot of solid evidence for before recommending or implementing them.
But they’re so bog standard and accepted and everyone from doctors to your own family will look at you like you’re a flat-earther when you suggest maybe we shouldn’t be defaulting to that.
“We have proved there is an association between larger bodies and certain illnesses!”
Okay, have you proved the fat caused the illnesses?
“No.”
Have you proved people have better long term outcomes from losing weight?
“We can’t.”
Right. And why is that again?
“Well to measure that, we’d have to compare the health outcomes of three populations - thin people, fat people, and fat people who became thin through weight loss.”
So do that.
“But there actually are not enough people who became thin through weight loss and kept it off for us to do a long term study on how that impacts their health. The sample size is too small.”
So you can’t prove that changing fat people to thin people would change their health outcomes to those of thin people.
Because you can’t prove that fat people can become thin in the first place.
But you’re still telling them to do that as your primary prescription.
Even when the recommended and unproven methods to do so are potentially very dangerous.
“Yeah, but”
What if as a doctor I found out pale people get skin cancer more often than darker skin people, so to prevent skin cancer, started recommending tanning to my palest patients? Would that be good health care?
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not what we’re doing.” Isn’t it though???
I’m dropping the bit. I’m losing my shit. I get so used to living in bizarro land but sometimes I just want to shake everyone. Calories are bad science! They are nearly meaningless! The BMI is bad science! It’s nearly meaningless! The presumptions made in weight loss studies are so bad!!! And we’ve known this for decades!!! And we just keep!!! Ruining lives!!! Why are we so invested in this clearly unfounded ideology about bodies??? (Your picture was not posted)
Definitely never thought of this...
Date: 2022-12-12 12:01 am (UTC)(Never realized how *compulsory* it would feel(Too many makeover shows)