Many of you know I was lucky enough to go and spend some time with the terrific folks at the Yale Rudd Center (funnily enough at Yale Uni!!) and in particular with Rebecca Puhl and her team.

Not only was it cool as a kid from a little suburb in Auckland, New Zealand to end up being able to share her thoughts at Yale, but it was equally special because of the tremendous resistance that we have had towards our research since we started talking to fat people about their experiences five years ago, and started advocating for a change in the way we think about this issue.

And I think we are starting to see that change, thanks to the amazing courage of the people who shared their experiences with us. We still have a long way to go… but I reckon we are getting there!!

As a side note, we also went to Washington DC and spoke at a conference about some of the work we are doing in social media, and we got a Meritorious Award for our paper on Fat Stigma.

So back to the Rudd Center, where I have never met such a lovely bunch of people. They welcomed us and spent a lot of time telling us about their studies and we got to share the work we are doing.

I was also enough to go to the Yale Studio and record this chat that I had with Prof Kelly Brownell.

You can listen to the podcast here. It is on Itunes so if anyone knows how to put this on Discourse so people can just listen it here, let me know

UPDATE: You can also listen to it via MP3 player here.

Yesterday a good friend of mine (who is not fat) messaged me on Facebook.  She was upset because a facebook friend of hers had linked to yesterdays report of Kenlie who had been given a hard time about her weight when trying to board a flight. The person who posted the article on Facebook wrote as their status:

“Lose some weight bitch”

A number of people then pressed ‘like’ in response to this.

I went and had a look at the article. And I read the original blog post from Kenlie about her experiences. The interesting thing is, that in the blog post Kenlie describes how she has already lost a lot of weight – in fact the whole blog site is about her weight loss journey.

So to the dumb arse who wrote that comment – not that it is any of your freaking business what she chooses to do with her body, but yeah she is losing weight. Happy now?

But the point of this post is actually to look past the comment of this guy to the numerous negative stigmatising and downright offensive comments that are posted on news websites in response to articles like this.  For many of you reading this blog, I am about to post a selection of them, so if you dont want to read them… skip over the next little bit.

Here is a selection of the 113 comments on the story:

Kate of Sydney: I think all fat/obese people should be made to sit next to each other on all aircraft. I unfortunately got stuck sitting between 2 obese people once – both of them spilled their fat into my seat.

Adrian: She isn’t fat! She is OBESE – there is a difference

Harry S:  Think of the risk too, if there were an emergency. For one they would block the doors and passageways as they slowly ambled out of the plane increasing the risk for other, quicker passengers trapped behind them, and if they were injured or incapacitated how many people would need to be placed at risk to help the injured fat ones out of the wreckage? These questions demand answers!

Slender Smith:  Buy two tickets, lose weight, or don’t fly, I say!

Ben of Penrith:  Go on a diet. Its not hard. Eat well and exercise and the weight will fall off.

Jane of Melbourne:  Being morbidly obese, you will not have a sucessful career, not run after your children (if you can conceive) you will not shop in mainstream stores and you wont FIT IN AIRLINE SEATS!! There is no senstive way to tell someone they are too fat to fit. Accept it!

Stayoffmyflight of Melbourne: Why don’t they use some of their energy on loosing weight rather than making headlines – then they won’t have to worry about the same situation next time they fly. Fat people are fat due to their own making, so ony they can help themselves.

Research (from my own studies and many others) show that fat stigma is increasing dramatically. And it is becoming more and more extreme. The stigma seen in these online comments is referred to in the literature as structural stigma (see Corrigan et al for a good introduction to this in the mental health literature).

And it is very difficult to change.

Whilst these comments are just a small reflection of the wider communities attitude towards people who are fat, I wonder if it is time to step up and start moderating some of these comments? If these comments were about other groups within society would we allow them to be published?

These types of comments come up on thousands of different media reports about fatness. They are particularly prominent when fat individuals try to assert their rights, or tell their story about their experiences of being fat, and the discrimination they receive.

Of course there is always the right of reply. People can log onto the websites and leave an alternative point of view. But to be honest, many people who really try to do that are often belittled, shouted down or shamed. And also, why on earth should fat people be responsible for fighting this stuff ALL THE TIME. The flip side of the argument is that the anti-fat majority is are only offering an opinion. Personally, I don’t think that argument is good enough when you consider the distress that this content causes people.

I don’t know what the solution is here. I just wanted to raise it as an issue that I think needs addressing.

And of course, I know that many of you will have some great ideas about how to do that!

Yesterday on Twitter there was an almighty flutter of tweets as the result of these tweets from Australian medical doctor Prof Kerryn Phelps regarding the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children eat a healthy diet. The tweets sparked my attention mainly because of one word: eliminate.

In my opinion, simplistic rhetoric, and black and white assumptions about what people SHOULD do, is extremely unhelpful in thinking through healthy lifestyles for our kids. Healthy diets and exercise are so important for our kids. But how about we get off the blame and shame game and actually start addressing some of the structural and environmental factors and inequalities that lead some kids to have less access to these opportunities than others.

I feel so fortunate that we can afford fresh produce for our family – that we have a car that can take us to the large markets where fresh fruit and vege is much cheaper than at our local supermarket.

And despite the fact that I work full time, we have enough flexibility in my job that I can get home in time to have a good 30-45 minutes to prepare the family meal each night.

Nevertheless, there are some nights (particularly after long and stressful days – or when the kids are just in foul moods) when I will SOS to my hubby to grab takeout on the way home. And there are other times when we just enjoy eating a takeaway. Should I feel guilty and ashamed? Does that make me a bad parent? I don’t think so.

Here is a selection of tweets from people who responded to this – including @thewildgoose who provided some of the most sensible dialogue I have seen about this topic in a long time! I hope you enjoy some of these tweets… I did – and I also discovered some great new people too.

@thewildgoose: Well sure, but that’s a pretty monumental oversimplification. Kids are exposed to a whole lot more than parental influence.

@thewildgoose: And sometimes people, parents and kids alike, will make errors of judgement, or have inadequate information.

@kissability: What about parents in Aboriginal communities, where fresh food is scarce and expensive?

@kissability: There are also many poor communities in America like that, people just don’t have the choice

@mymilkspilt: ‘Healthy diet’ is a nuanced concept. So unhelpful to act like it’s black and white.

@mymilkspilt: Mental health & eating competence matter. Social occasions, Individ needs & preferences matter.

@mymilkspilt: And that is without even considering food deserts, $ and time pressure & other barriers.

@Doc_Samantha: So because I don’t ‘eliminate’ all junk food from our household diet, I am a bad parent? Thanks!

@amaditalks: In other words “people who don’t parent the way I think proper are ignorant or negligent or both.” Ugly judgmental attitude.

@mymilkspilt: Do we blame parents or Big Tobacco for teens taking up smoking? Why not attack systemic barriers rather than mother-blame?

@Melistomato: now don’t even jest about ‘bad’ parents! & real food is never ‘bad’ for kids. #bad #badder #baddest #lostmytrainofthought

@soniaahhh I get cranky with ppl who should know better who insist that ‘bottom-up’ health promotions are effective.

@soniaahhh All that ever happens is that privileged ppl get to tsk at the terrible poors who won’t do the right thing by their kids.

@soniaahhh None of the dialogue I’ve seen around childhood obesity addresses the reality of endemic disadvantage.

@thewildgoose: Parents are given conflicting/inaccurate messages EVERYWHERE, and then we blame them when they don’t magically get it right.

@Doc_Samantha: Today my kids had ham and cheese croissants (332 calories/20.2grams fat) after footy. Obviously I am bad parent.

@Doc_Samantha: Oh yeah.. and mum and dad. All those Friday nights we had fish and chips. Bad parenting you know.

@Doc_Samantha: @drkerrynphelps Well given that childhood obesity has plateaued in Oz over the last decade, most people must be doing something right.

I’ve just come back from the USA (which was very cool!)

I had quite a bit of press on various things while I was away, so thought I would link you to it here

1. Me and my great colleague (and all round nice bloke) A/Prof Colin McLeod wrote an article about Obesity Myths and the propaganda war on obesity. I didn’t realise this had been posted, but you can read it here. There is no comments section, so feel free to discuss here.

2. Colin and I also did a Video Blog at Marketing Magazine on scare tactics in obesity campaigns.  I haven’t watched it, but you can watch it here.

3. Finally, The Age did a very nice profile on the work we do in the area of obesity stigma which you can read here.

Enjoy