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WLS - Weight Loss Surgery - the real question is quality of life

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Junkfood Science Weekend Special: Bariatric surgery - the most life-altering decision you’ll ever make

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AUSTIN, TX - The International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA) would like to thank Yahoo for responding to public feedback and creating plus-size apparel and appearance for their male and female “avatars” (cute, customizable graphical representations of people) for their Yahoo Messenger instant messaging software. In 2005, ISAA made a short campaign to encourage the public to contact Yahoo to encourage the company to make avatars which represent all segments of the population, including the plus-sized.

As of today, Yahoo has made “plus-size” a category to choose from their “apparel” customization screen on the Avatar section of their website. To use Yahoo Messenger and create an avatar, one must have a free Yahoo account. Yahoo offers a variety of free and for-pay services, including e-mail, blogging, music, news, classified ads, maps and much more!

ISAA encourages the public to contact Yahoo at the link provided below and thank them for responding to what you asked for and make suggestions for even better fashion choices for males and females. We have made an impression, so let’s build on it. Thanks for continuing to be involved in size acceptance. As you can see, we are accomplishing more than we know sometimes.

Contact Yahoo at the link below to offer them positive, productive and encouraging feedback. Please do not attack or flame them if you think they’re not doing enough, just let them know how you think they could improve. Thanks!

Yahoo Avatar Feedback Form

We know Yahoo reads your feedback, so offer it today.

Best Wishes,
Allen Steadham, Director
International Size Acceptance Association

by Daphne Yvonne Bradshaw

Finding and receiving even adequate respect when you are a fat person is both tricky and vital. All too often, a fat person does not get something even closely similar to minimal afforded dignity much less a good standard of treatment. This is true in a wide variety of fields, too, from inadequate space to move to clothing that truly fits to medical care. Even in the most personal of relationships, respect is all too often lacking because the use of a person’s fat is too easily used as a weapon to punish the “transgressor.” And, boy, can I tell you some tales!

As almost every fat person can tell you, everything bad or even the merely not good tends to get blamed on the fat. Good things that happen to and for a fat person are usually looked at as suspect or as consolation prizes of some kind. The message is loud and clear: You’re fat, so how could you have received that good thing (compliment, award, promotion, lover, etc.)—wasn’t there a more normal-sized person around at the time? Oh no! A fat person cannot have keen intelligence nor wit, beauty in and of themselves, good skills and talents, or any of the other things normal to humankind, right? It is as if respectable traits are in a negative ratio to body poundage: the more pounds the less good traits. Of course, when a fat person is berated for something that is automatically blamed on the fat, the fact that humans of all sizes and shapes tend to have these very same traits is not mentioned and is certainly not mentioned to the fat person in question. Why, that might just empower the fat person and destroy the power of the berating! We cannot have that, now can we?!

And so, let me introduce you to Daphne, the Super-Duper-Sized Woman who also sometimes likes to call herself the Quarter Ton Woman. She is loosely based on me, of course, but she does tend to have a lot more adventures than the real Daphne does, which is ok by me since she also gets into a lot more trouble than I tend to do on my own. Some of what Daphne, the SDSW (Super-Duper-Sized Woman,) gets into is based on situations either the real Daphne or my friends have experienced, but the stories are changed enough to protect the privacy of the participants, including or maybe especially including me. Daphne’s story will usually be told in third person so as to differentiate her tales from my own true tales which will be in first person. The Daphne used in first person is the one who tends to write documented articles and more serious stories; whereas, Daphne, the SDSW, likes to have fun and tends to be quite mischievous.

Give Me My Death Certificate, dag nabbit!

Daphne, the SDSW, was long overdue for a doctor’s appointment. Months had passed, and she had been unable to get out to see one of those she thought of as extremely overpaid and overly respected professionals. It wasn’t like she was deliberately trying to skip appointments…. Well, it was exactly like she was deliberately skipping appointments, truth be told—doctors tended to have hard to get into and around offices, tended to have very bad attitudes toward fat people in general and toward super-duper-sized people especially, and never seemed to give any remotely decent standard of care to a super-duper-sized person beyond “lose weight and all your troubles will be miles away.” In other words, if passing out awards for being truly unhelpful and even tending toward abusiveness, doctors ranked high up there in Daphne’s mind.

But, that wasn’t the primary reason she hadn’t been to see a doctor in months. The real reason was she had been in much more pain and extremely decreased mobility because of that pain for months. Flared up joints all over a body tends to do that even to the best of people and intentions. However, being practical about needing medications like a depended upon one known as insulin gave an added incentive not to put off seeing those doctors too long.

So, the day came when Daphne, the SDSW, made a valiant effort to get out to see her doctors all in one day so as to get it over and done with at one time. Even the weather decided to help her efforts… It was one of the strongest torrential downpours of the decade type of day. Ah, such joy.

Anyway, dripping onto the tiled floor, Daphne awaited her verdict. Surprisingly, she was not kept waiting too long this time to be disappointed much. The Doctor came in, shook her hand lightly, and proceeded to tell her she was dead already; therefore, she must go get the miracle performing and resurrecting “chop you up and serve you for sausage” surgery because, well, super-duper-size was a grave condition after all, and this procedure will get rid of all the many things going wrong in that super-duper-sized body. Never mind if the patient may die from the procedure because all know that such an enormous person did not have a life anyway. Besides, no one really knows when another will indeed die, and it would be much better to die after paying an enormous price to a very lucrative medical experimental business before expiration dates on a particular body than to die without adequate assisting of a payroll, now would it?

What was worse, Daphne wondered: being bullied into a quasi-submission or being declared dead but not given your death certificate that you’d already paid for? (Doctors’ office staffs have become very clever at requiring payment before allowing a person to see the MDieties anymore.)

Yes, both she and the doctor are still at this time breathing. And, she is still waiting to receive the paid for Death Certificate so she can approach her insurance for possible death benefits. Meanwhile, the saga will definitely continue, have no fear!

We all know the scenario: the end-of-year holidays have come and gone and now the diet marketing goes into effect. People are guilt-tripped because they supposedly ate too much during the holidays, make New Years’ resolutions to lose weight this year and will try just about anything to accomplish this goal. Ah, but this year, we also have weight loss surgery being pushed by bariatric corporations, whether gastric banding or the full shebang, gastric bypass.

I’m pretty passionate in my disapproval of weight loss surgery (See ISAA’s Position on Weight Loss Surgery). I’ve had friends die from it, I’ve seen numerous lives ruined by it and I learn more not to like about it almost daily.

My outlook is not all gloom and doom, however. Actually, I have seen a lot of positive changes in recent years. Modern teens and young adults do not make weight loss as high a priority as their parents. Some do not make it a priority at all. In the United States, at least, this is the first generation of people to be raised with some awareness of size acceptance and the scientific proof that diets do not work. I believe this will eventually happen in other countries where word about size acceptance and healthy body esteem is beginning to spread, slowly but surely.

As we continue to work to get information about size acceptance, Respect Fitness Health and the pitfalls of the junk science being used to promote weight loss is dispensed in person and over the internet, the more information people will have to make informed choices concerning their health.

Even new studies are clearly showing that weight loss is not necessary to be healthy while making improved food choices and being active is. I believe we will see more research in this area and more conclusive proof but of course, time will tell.

Best Wishes,

Allen

It seems like “obesity” is still the freakshow topic of many media outlets. It’s the mutant menace of our day, the thing that will bankrupt all healthcare systems and devour our children. Why, it’s a wonder we’re not all fat already — oh, wait, we almost are, according to most studies! Then there’s the news stories that are basically infomercials for weight loss methods, especially surgery. Very little is reported about the dangers of these procedures, the death rates, the complication rates or repeat surgery rates. Now, to their credit, some media outlets do some reporting on it but most do not. If it’s medical and it causes weight loss, it’s A-OK in the media.

It really would be nice to see some objective journalism when it comes to size- and weight-related topics. Occasionally, it happens. Recently, a few Health At Every Size (HAES) articles have seen publication but they are few and far between. Also, over the years, I’ve met some really nice media personalities who are sympathetic to the cause of size acceptance and who don’t like size discrimination. At the very least, while some may not agree with us, they at least hear us out, which is more than I can say for others.

More commonly what we see is biased reporting such as the tabloid-like headlines of some of the UK papers (the Daily Mail has had a lot of them recently). Since when is a suggestion from a professor considered newsworthy? Noone is even considering this idea, no government or legislative body at least. And yet, it makes it all the way to the Drudge Report and other international media outlets.

I guess I take some personal offense, not as a size acceptance activist and educator, but as a former journalist who was trained in the fundamentals of journalism. And those fundamentals are pretty simple:

1. The only place you put your opinion is in an editorial;

2. Report the facts and report what people say about the facts;

3. Don’t make up the news, report it; and

4. Try to show both sides of any issue, if it’s possible.

Instead of these standards, what we tend to get in “obesity reporting” is either an entirely one-sided story with a focus on how obesity will supposedly kill you if you don’t submit to surgery or at least dieting in order to lose weight — or it projects the writer’s fears about obesity, which can include insulting fat people or writing things like “why can’t you just put the plate of food down?” In other words, generalizing without any factual backup whatsoever.

Sometimes there are “sympathy” pieces, written by people who agree that discrimination against fat people is wrong but also fear the heralded medical ills of obesity. And then there are plus-size fashion pieces, which even come under attack now and then, like this week.

If the headline has “obesity” in it, 9 times out of 10, it will ultimately be about weight loss…which means, it’s ultimately a self-defeating article that won’t help anyone. So why do we see so many of these headlines? It’s been known for a long time that the media is a great advertising medium in the guise of supposed “news.” Are you a scientist that made a mouse lose 0.0075% of its body mass in a poorly controlled environment with a drug you’re trying to sell? Nevermind that it writhed in agony the whole time or grew an additional leg, publish the results in a press release claiming the “potential” cure to obesity! Have a position of some prominence and an outrageous opinion that would impede the rights of fat people “for their own good?” Tell the news all about it, it will sell!

So where does ISAA come into all of this? Well, ISAA works with the media whenever we can. We respond to legitimate inquiries from the media, give our positions, try to clear up misperceptions and engage in dialogues. ISAA distributes press releases also and we try to communicate using our own media capabilities (email lists, podcasts, e-zines and now blogging). We know we can reach people with information they can use to help themselves.

ISAA also encourages you to contact any media outlet that publicizes anything biased or factually inaccurate and let them know what you think. Just as we want to know what you think about us, most media outlets welcome public feedback, even if the public doesn’t agree with them. They may not change their stance on the matter but if enough public pressure builds, they will respond. It’s definitely worth the effort. We’ve seen many successes over the years because of public input caused businesses to reconsider their position on a size- or weight-related matter. It can happen.

It will take time and it will take perserverence in the face of all obstacles. But ISAA is more than just its volunteers. ISAA has become a concept, a size acceptance idea that has begun to take root all over the world. It may not be evident immediately upon review right now, but give us time. We may surprise you. And you might surprise yourself!

Press Release - For Immediate Release

LONDON - The United Kingdom Branch of the International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA UK) is very concerned about the recent series of media articles on cosmetic/weight loss surgery for plus-sized children and even the contemplation of the idea of “health warnings” on plus-size clothing. ISAA as an organization has a firm stance against bariatric weight loss surgery of any kind.

“The thought of it being used on growing children is unconscionable to ISAA,” said Fatima Parker, President of the ISAA UK branch. “It will invariably deny them the nutrients they need to grow into healthy adults and could result in death or extremely poor quality of life.”

Also, the suggestion that plus-size clothing needs health warnings is abhorrent to ISAA UK, which sees it as an attack on the plus-size fashion industry. It is also potentially the first step in a slippery slope of separating fat people from society in order to further discriminate against them and profit from the weight-cycling caused by failed weight loss efforts.

“One would not be safe from the fat police, even in their own clothes,” said Parker. “Would they put health warnings on size 0 clothes as well? How about on the show clothing that the extremely thin models wear in fashion shows? If you open that Pandora’s box, where does it end? The whole notion of health warnings on plus-size clothing is biased against the fat and indicative of the prejudice we face daily. ISAA exists to combat such discrimination.”

ISAA’s mission is to promote size acceptance and to help end weight-based discrimination throughout the world by means of advocacy and visible, lawful actions. ISAA has branches in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, France, Middle East and Africa, New Zealand, the Philippines and the UK. ISAA also has several virtual chapters online. ISAA was founded in 1997.

Contact Information:
Fatima Parker
President, ISAA UK
Email: redah888@yahoo.com
WWW: http://www.size-acceptance.org/uk

- 30 -

I have just come out of the battlefield. I had no warning. I have a terrible flu and my voice is gone, but I fought back and won the last word for size acceptance.

On BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) radio, they had 3 Doctors, one after the other, spreading the same propaganda on Obesity, same old adage. I had been invited on to represent the size acceptance point of view.

(Here is a link to the “Africa Have Your Say” radio programme’s website and audio)

They were saying one thing, then when I retaliated, they changed their tune. But when they went back to saying obesity kills, they sounded like a sales pitch to the connoisseur but doom and gloom to the listener.

Obesity is a major killer in Africa, they said. It is a time bomb waiting to explode and kill every one in its path.

The majority of the callers were against them. They said that the WHO (World Health Organization) should re-check their data. How can obesity be a major killer of Africans when over 77% of the deaths are from starvation and AIDS?

One of the doctors told me that I was feeling victimized, I should not. They only want my health and well being.

The other said since I am an activist, then I have negative feelings and need help. I must be positive, he said, and do something about my weight. I should not be too confident because if I have any one in my family who has diabetes, I will surely get it. I said I would get it even if I was thin. I thanked him for his advice and said that scaring people into starvation is not the right way to go about it. The worst thing, I said, was the humiliation, the abuse, the insults and the marginalization of fat people and not acceptance of diversity. You want one size to fit all and you make beauty trends that are not attainable by the majority in the world.

The dietitian said first that obesity kills and that they must get rid of it. Then when I said how does she get rid of it, when diets do not work, she then said only 10% is enough, but got back to the obesity kills message quickly.

I spoke about many things. I had more time since I was the “punching bag.” The presenter asked the doctors to convince me that obesity kills and that I should not be proud of being fat, but I answered back (I had to shout sometimes) my voice is very weak, I am not well, but I found strength in our cause and I fought on with dignity and respect for them and myself. They kept repeating the same thing about how not every fat person gets diseases like the smokers but obesity in general kills and Africa is in mortal danger from It.

I managed to talk about many things like eating disorders, stress, the ridiculing of fat people in society and in the media, my own experience as a fat beautiful normal person, the war on obesity that has no opponents, fighting the docile fat people who believe it all, they get on the merry-go-round of bingeing and dieting and getting bigger. They have no voice and they are always blamed for their size.

The doctor then said, We are not fighting you, Fatima. We are fighting obesity not the obese. You have a problem with people, but we are fighting the fat not fat people.

I said you have been fighting fat for over 50 years and obesity is on the rise, why? …they did not answer. I said what we need is education and acceptance that people can learn to live happy healthy lives at any size. And if you do not push for one size fits all and make one look or one color a trend and model of beauty to sell hope of happiness and success in a jar , if every one was respected and had dignity and their self esteem was not damaged from feeling low and inadequate, then there would not be extreme obesity nor would there be need for a war.

Fatima Parker, President

ISAA UK (United Kingdom) and MENA (Middle East aNd Africa)

Many years ago, a friend recommended that I try the Hip and Thigh Diet.

I asked her how the diet plan knew to take weight only off my hips and thighs. What if it got it wrong and just took fat off one bosom and I ended up with one voluptuous breast and one saggy, skinny one. Or suppose it targeted my legs, I didn’t wants to walk around with one thin leg and one strong, shapely one.

She told me seriously that this was a, “scientifically designed diet to improve health and wellbeing”. Up to then, I hadn’t really thought of her as terminally stupid.

No diet, whether it is aimed at reducing body fat or designed for improving nutrition, can possibly target specific areas of the body. The Heart Diet doesn’t zoom in on that muscle and immediately repair any damage and cause it to beat happily for the next fifty years. The Liver Diet does not sweep through only that organ, cleansing like some nutritional hoover.

Of course you can eat foods which are kinder to the liver but they also reach every tiny particle of the whole body.

A certain food may upset your stomach and give you headache but it is also reaching every blood cell, every vein and muscle – because that’s what food is designed to do.

That’s why we have well nourished feet!

There are sensors throughout every particle of our wonderful bodies and when the glucose level falls they leap into action. First our senses become more acute so we can see and smell food and respond positively to it.

If you doubt this, try looking at your favourite food when you have a full tummy – doesn’t have the same appeal at all!

Then the awareness of food, or the need for it increases and our brain is unable to concentrate fully on whatever we are doing.

It begins small, the odd thought, ‘Gee, I’m about ready for a cup of coffee’, and continues, if we don’t respond, to a more intrusive imagining, the smell and feel of Java.

Eventually we just can’t get on with the job in hand because the body is crying out for sustenance.

Our need for food is no different to our need for water – the longer you deny that need, the more the body shuts down other faculties so it can concentrate on making you reach for something liquid, or edible.

I call that pretty wonderful.

Every tiny atom of you has been built and is sustained by one thing – food and this is why everything in the body is geared towards finding and consuming it.

From the pupils of the eyes, which dilate when we see food, to the saliva glands, taste buds and stomach juices which ra-ra in anticipation.

If we consume a diet full of low-nutrition foods, we will be malnourished, every part of us, and that means the organs will deteriorate.

This is why the diets aimed at certain organs are just plans to get better nutrition into the body so it can heal itself.

Eat fruits, vegetables, quality meats and fish, nuts, seeds and grains and (unless we are allergic to something) we will be filling every particle of our body with the elements it needs to repair and remain healthy.

That we should now be firmly trapped in a culture which seeks to feed the body on something which offers no nutritional value, or deprive it of the essentials it needs, is sad beyond belief.

It’s like buying a top-of-the-range sports car, expecting it to run on mower fuel and never maintaining it.

YOU are that sports car and you deserve the very best to power and keep you going, every part of you, hips, thighs and all.

This announcement is also available in podcast form on the ISAA Pods website at http://isaapods.blogspot.com

Austin, TX – The International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA) is no longer a membership organization, effective September 1, 2006. All memberships received prior to September 1, 2006 will be honored but no new memberships will be accepted. In addition, the “Join ISAA” webpage and all weblinks relating to joining ISAA have been removed from the ISAA website.

There are many reasons for this change. First of all, ISAA is and always has been geared towards volunteer efforts from the public, which has included but not been limited to ISAA’s membership.

Secondly, ISAA has always had members but as time progressed and more ISAA activities and publications originated online, there were fewer benefits for joining ISAA, except to show support for ISAA. This has always been appreciated but is not sufficient reason to continue being a membership organization.

Third, support for ISAA would be better served through donations to ISAA. ISAA has several projects coming up in the near future and will need public support to accomplish those tasks and projects.

You can donate to ISAA online, using your credit or debit card. ISAA has an account with PAYPAL which allows secure online transactions for ISAA DONATIONS. Just click on the graphic below to donate to ISAA!

Lastly, ISAA is trying to maximize its strengths and eliminate potential weaknesses. Every once in a while, it is good to make changes that will improve the organization as a whole.

ISAA will continue to be active in promoting size acceptance and combating size discrimination throughout the world. And with your participation and support, we will accomplish our mission.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at directisaa@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Allen Steadham, Director

International Size Acceptance Association