| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 4, 1998 |
CONTACT: Sally E. Smith (916) 558-6880 |
Calls "Obesity Clinical Guidelines" Bad Policy
The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is calling the National Institute of Health's "Statement on First Federal Obesity Clinical Guidelines" (released 6/3) bad public health policy. According to NAAFA Executive Director Sally E. Smith, "Redefining 'overweight' to affect 25 million more Americans will do nothing to improve health, other than the health of the bank balances of the $33 billion diet industry."
Citing the 1992 NIH Consensus Conference finding that 95% of all behavioral and dietary treatments for obesity fail, Smith says it is "ludicrous and dangerous" to create public health policy which focuses on weight loss rather than improving health. Instead, NAAFA says that conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and elevated blood sugar can be improved with changes in dietary and exercise habits, independent of weight loss.
Smith says that the NIH recommendations put patients at risk by advocating that physicians encourage weight loss and measure waist circumference. "There is extensive documentation that fat patients already delay seeking health care because of harassment by doctors about the patient's weight. If this policy is implemented, you can be sure that fat patients will avoid doctors like the plague."
The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance is a non-profit organization to end discrimination based on body size and to empower people all sizes of large through public education, advocacy, and member support. NAAFA has 5,000 members and 40 chapters throughout the U.S.
A five-point response to the NIH Guidelines follows this release