Konferenz: Is the public health “war on obesity” doing more harm than good?

12.12.2023 Online.

Zeit: 12. Dezember 2023, 20:00 bis 21:15 Uhr
Ort: Online (Zoom)

Veranstalter: AG Public Health Ethik der AEM und DGPH (International Working Group)

A weight-centric paradigm focuses on the role of weight in causing ill health: leading to research that measures weight changes rather than health outcomes; a disproportionate emphasis on diet and lifestyle changes in clinical medicine; and an on-going war on obesogenic environments in public health. By contrast, a weight-neutral paradigm focuses on health and wellbeing irrespective of weight. Testimony from patients suggests there is no way to engage in medical screening of weight in a manner that is non-stigmatizing. There is growing evidence that fat shaming is prevalent in society and medicine; and  that fat phobic attitudes of health providers is a significant cause of fat patients delaying or avoiding medical care and inaccurate diagnosis leading to avoidable morbidity and mortality. But do public health efforts to reduce obesogenic environments also perpetuate stigma and cause harm? In this talk I will use Raffle & Gray’s famous metric for evaluating public health screening programs: “All screening programmes do harm. Some do good as well and, of these, some do more good than harm at reasonable cost.” I will consider what good the war on obesity has achieved, what harm it has caused, and whether it has generated a net increase in health and well-being, at reasonable cost.

Vortragende: Assoc. Prof. Angela Ballantyne, University of Otago, Wellington