WHEREAS, fat people often suffer discrimination in the health care delivery system: and

WHEREAS, fat people deserve the same level of health care services available to non-fat people,

BE IT RESOLVED that the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, Inc. adopts the following Declaration of the Rights of Fat People in Health Care:

1. To non-discrimination in the health care system due to weight / size or illness category;

2. To have quality medical care, social services, and adequate physical accommodations / equipment / testing facilities in the health care setting;

3. To have full explanation of all health procedures; to help choose the modality of treatment; and to refuse treatment (including calorie-restrictive diets);

4. To have an advocate, either an individual or organizational representative of our choice, to ask questions for us, to listen to what we cannot hear, and to be with us;

5. To refuse participation in weight loss programs of all kinds, including diets, surgery, aversive psychological conditioning, and chemical regimes, without jeopardizing access to other treatment and care;

6. To adequate and appropriate analgesia and anesthesia when necessary in the opinion of the patient;

7. To freedom from ridicule, coercion, and harassment from all care givers in the health delivery system;

8. To be treated by individuals who are accurately informed about the latest in the areas of bariatrics, nutrition, metabolism, and genetics with regard to "obesity";

9. To privacy and confidentiality of all medical records.

By Lynn Meletiche, October, 1988.