"As late as 2022, the Times's columnist Matthew Parris published a column headlined Fat shaming is the only way to beat the obesity crisis in which he attributed Britain's losing battle with fat to society's failure to goad and stigmatise the overweight into finally, shamefacedly, eating less. The tendency to equate excess weight with poor character (and thinness with grit and self-control) treats obesity as a moral as well as physical failing less a disease than a lifestyle choice."
"One of the great strengths of Reuters journalist Aimee Donnellan's first book is its insistence on framing the discovery of the new weight-loss drugs within the fraught social and cultural context of beauty norms, body image and health. For those who need them, weekly injections of Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro can be revolutionary. Yet for every person with diabetes or obesity taking the drugs to improve their health, others neither obese nor diabetic are obtaining them to get beach-body ready, fit into smaller dresses."
Weight-loss injectable drugs have emerged against a backdrop of intense societal judgment and moralizing of body size, especially for women. Weekly injections such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro can produce revolutionary health improvements for people with diabetes or obesity. Many people without medical need obtain these drugs for cosmetic aims, chasing social-media-driven slender aesthetics and smaller clothing sizes. Cultural bias frequently equates excess weight with poor character and thinness with self-control, producing stigma. Dramatic weight loss can alter social and professional treatment, sometimes increasing perceived worth and opportunities for the person who loses weight.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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