Moving Toward Health Policy that Respects Both Science and People Living with Obesity.

Theodore K Kyle, Fatima Cody Stanford

Journal: The Nursing clinics of North America 2021;56(4):635-645

PMID: 34749901

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Abstract

Through four decades of rising obesity, health policy has been mostly ineffective. Prevention policies failed to reverse rising trends in prevalence, partly because they are often based on biased mental models about what should work to prevent obesity, rather than empiric evidence for what does work. Bias toward people living with obesity harms health, while contributing to poor access to effective care that might serve to improve it. Better public policy will come from an increased application of objective obesity science, research to fill knowledge gaps, and respect for the human dignity of people who live with obesity.

Address: ConscienHealth, 2270 Country Club Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15241, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology-Neuroendocrine, Massachusetts General Hospital, MGH Weight Center, 50 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH), 50 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cnur.2021.08.003

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MeSH Terms: Health Policy, Health Promotion, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Obesity, Population Health, Science