By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
The Curvy FashionistaThe Curvy Fashionista
Notification Show More
Latest News
The Plus Bus partners for TCFStyle Brunch
Join US! Our TCFStyle Brunch Series is BACK… in LA!
Fashion and Industry Fashion Events
Free Label Spring Collection
You Oughta Know: Free Label! Luxe Loungewear Up Through a 5X
Plus Size Designers
The Marina Rinaldi Spring Collection
The Marina Rinaldi Spring Collection is Exciting and Bold!
Plus Size Designers
GabiFresh Swim x Eloquii
Upgrade your Swim Life with the GabiFresh Swim x Eloquii Collection!
Fashion and Industry Plus Size Designers
Zelie for she spring collection-Lady Day Ivory
The Zelie for She Spring Collection is Romantic and Playful
Plus Size Designers
Aa
  • News
    News
    Looking the the latest plus size fashion and industry news around designers, influencers, and community happenings? We’ve got you covered with the latest happenings in…
    Show More
    Top News
    Celebrating 200k FB Fans- It is a Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Simply Be!
    Celebrating 200k FB Fans- It is a Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Simply Be!
    9 years ago
    Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Hips and Curves
    Celebrating 200k FB Fans- It is a Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Hips and Curves!
    9 years ago
    nordstrom size inclusive
    What’s Missing as Nordstrom (and others) Takes Note of Us, the Plus Size Consumer
    5 years ago
    Latest News
    Join US! Our TCFStyle Brunch Series is BACK… in LA!
    6 hours ago
    You Oughta Know: Free Label! Luxe Loungewear Up Through a 5X
    2 days ago
    The Marina Rinaldi Spring Collection is Exciting and Bold!
    1 week ago
    Upgrade your Swim Life with the GabiFresh Swim x Eloquii Collection!
    6 days ago
  • Style
    Style
    Yes, plus size style options exist and we are here to share the latest style finds, news, updates, and plus size style tips & tricks…
    Show More
    Top News
    Plus size woman Walking
    LETS TALK: Design Elements in Plus Size Clothes that KILL ME.
    10 years ago
    Duo Boots Giveaway on The Curvy Fashionista
    #TCFTurns5 Giveaway: Step into Style With the Duo Boots Giveaway!
    9 years ago
    Celebrating 200k FB Fans- It is a Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Simply Be!
    Celebrating 200k FB Fans- It is a Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Simply Be!
    9 years ago
    Latest News
    Diamonds Are Forever But Are They For Everyone? 5 Size-Inclusive Jewelry Brands
    2 weeks ago
    The Rebdolls Spring Collection Will Make You Swoon and We’ve Found 10 Faves!
    2 weeks ago
    You Oughta Know: What Lo Wants, A Sustainable LA-Based Plus Size Brand
    3 weeks ago
    Need to Update Your Lingerie Collection? Crush by Cacique is bringing the Bold and Bright Newness!
    3 weeks ago
  • Beauty
    Beauty
    Looking for the latest beauty trends, products, and makeup tips and beauty advice for plus size people?! Check out the latest beauty articles on The…
    Show More
    Top News
    Wearing Make-Up To Work, A Bad Thing?
    10 years ago
    10 Products to Fight Chub Rub
    It’s Chub Rub Season—10 Products To Battle It
    6 years ago
    PrescriptivesCustom Blend Foundation
    Celebrating 200k FB Fans- It is a Spring #TCFStyle Giveaway with Prescriptives!
    9 years ago
    Latest News
    The Best 2023 Planners to Keep You Organized and Help You Reach Your Goals!
    3 months ago
    13 Last Minute Beauty Gifts Everyone is Sure to Love
    3 months ago
    TCF Gift Guide: 15 Beauty Stocking Stuffers to Wow and Amaze Your Loved Ones!
    4 months ago
    20 of the Best Beauty Advent Calendars That Will Help You Countdown to the Holidays In Style
    5 months ago
  • Wellness
    Wellness
    Let’s talk about self-care, self-love, body image, and related topics to wellness and life as a plus size person!
    Show More
    Top News
    Torrid's Feature of Tiffany from On The Fatwalk
    The Enabling of Self Loathers and Shame – A Facebook Observation of Torrid
    11 years ago
    Rescue Stress relief
    Finding My Own Rescue Remedy & Taking Better Care of Myself…
    6 years ago
    Plus Size Lingerie: Hips and Curves
    Confidence, Sex, and the Plus Size Woman pt.1
    11 years ago
    Latest News
    Don’t Put Us In A Corner: Why In-Store Access To Plus Size Clothing Matters
    2 weeks ago
    The Dividing Truth Behind B Bellies
    3 weeks ago
    REI Sets a New Standard for Inclusive Fashion for the Outdoors
    1 month ago
    Save the Date for The BodCon Virtual Conference!
    4 weeks ago
  • Lifestyle
    Lifestyle
    There is so much more to a plus size fashion lover and we are highlighting the various topics from home, to dating and beyond in…
    Show More
    Top News
    Open Letter Tim Gunn
    An Open Letter: Dear Tim Gunn, Let’s Make It Work
    10 years ago
    2017 MTV Move & TV Awards, chrissy metz, plus size celebrity
    ‘I Wear What I Want, When I Want’: Chrissy Metz Slays In Red at the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards
    6 years ago
    Metallic Curves by Photographer Silvana Denker
    Plus Size Art: Metallic Curves by Photographer Silvana Denker
    6 years ago
    Latest News
    The Dividing Truth Behind B Bellies
    3 weeks ago
    Beyond Plus Size Activewear: The Plus Size Outdoor Clothing & 5 Communities To Know!
    3 months ago
    Save these 5 Plus Size Halloween Costume Tips from a Few Plus Size Cosplayers!
    5 months ago
    12 Places to Shop for Plus Size Halloween Costumes & Our Faves!
    6 months ago
  • Culture
    Culture
    Yes there is a plus size culture and we are here to share and celebrate it from entertainment to movies, we are talking about it!…
    Show More
    Top News
    25 women of color e1615188552216
    25 Women Of Color Who Paved The Way for Body Positivity & Plus Size Fashion
    2 years ago
    Dear Terri, Ven Budhu, and Project Runway….
    11 years ago
    Plus+ Coffee table book
    Because We Love a Great Book, Here are 30+ Plus Size Centered Must-Reads! 
    5 years ago
    Latest News
    Get To Know The Big Grrrls Cast! The Plus Size Dancers Competing For A Spot On Stage.
    1 year ago
    6 Easy Date Ideas For Every Budget
    1 year ago
    The Unfiltered Brilliance of Ryan Ken Acts
    1 year ago
    Unlike Hollywood’s Latest Portrayal of Her, Stagecoach Mary was Not Skinny, And She Wasn’t Light-skinned
    1 year ago
  • Shop TCF
  • Events
    • TCFStyle Brunch Series
Search TCF
More
  • Events
    • TCFStyle Brunch Series
  • Curvy & Plus Size Fashion Resources
  • About The Curvy Fashionista
  • Advertising
  • Contact
© 2008- 2023 · by TCFStyle Media · All Rights Reserved ·
Reading: Medical Fatphobia During The Covid-19 Pandemic: It’s Time For Radical Change
Aa
The Curvy FashionistaThe Curvy Fashionista
  • News
  • Style
  • Beauty
  • Wellness
  • Lifestyle
  • Culture
  • Shop TCF
  • Events
Search TCF
  • About
  • News
  • Style
  • Shopping
  • Wellness
  • Beauty
  • Lifestyle
  • Write for TCF
  • Contact
Sign In Sign In
Follow US
  • Login
  • Community Guidelines
  • Style Star Ambassadors
  • TCFStyle Influencer Network
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact
© 2008- 2021 · by TCFStyle Media · All Rights Reserved ·
Body Politics

Medical Fatphobia During The Covid-19 Pandemic: It’s Time For Radical Change

Amapoundcake
Last updated: 04/07/2021
By Amapoundcake 5 Min Read
Share
navigating doctor while fat
Photo by StockSnap

The World Health Organization is focusing on health inequalities after a year of living in a pandemic across the globe. To actively work to end inequalities in care, the inequalities have to be named. Medical fatphobia is harming fat people and decreasing their quality of care. 

Medical Fatphobia During The Pandemic

navigating doctor while fat

“Health inequities are not only unjust and unfair, but they also threaten the advances made to date, and have the potential to widen rather than narrow equity gaps.” – World Health Organization 

- Advertisement -

Surgeries and procedures were put on hold not because of patients’ size but because of a medical system that was not equipped for a pandemic. The pandemic also revealed that it was not prepared to accommodate the most marginalized people; the fat, the poor, Black, Disabled, Trans, POC.

– Amapoundcake

The message has to be more specific.

Weight discrimination is so violent and has deterred fat people from care for so long. Will there be an effort to make medical care safer and more accessible for fat people?  

- Advertisement -

Which is a huge problem because fat people are diverse and come from different backgrounds. 

French chief epidemiologist Jean-François Delfraissy claims they were concerned about the United States “where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity.”

Instead of providing resources and care for fat people, the response was, as it always is, to use this time to diet and avoid weight gain. 

Medical fatphobia during the pandemic
Image via @RagenChastain

This is a great example of medical fatphobia and concern trolling.

- Advertisement -

Suggesting that people do not get fatter during the pandemic was not to save their lives. If that were so, there would have been more efforts to bring food to our communities.

And if you are tweeting at me explaining cardiovascular respiratory bullshit about fat people and COVID, save it. Medical fatphobia kills people every day, especially those who are Black and/or disabled/chronically ill. THAT is the reason fat people should be getting vaccinated.

— Reina Sultan (she/her) (@SultanReina) February 24, 2021

A year since Covid was declared a national pandemic and fat people’s quality of care is not considered. In fact, the medical community is standing on research that feeds into weight stigma. Centra State even went as far as to suggest that fat people focus on switching from “an animal-based diet to a plant-based diet.”

This declaration that Covid 19 is more harmful to fat people because “the immune systems in people with obesity are not as strong”.

Diets will not help fat people recover from the pandemic but innovation, acknowledgment of systematic fatphobia, and commitment to humanizing fat people will.  

Medical fatphobia is also a global pandemic that is harming fat people. Many fat people have expressed their reluctance to visit the physician’s office because of fatphobia. Research suggests that fat people are more likely to die or be hospitalized during Covid.

The studies do not show racial and socioeconomic differences. Weight discrimination is harming fat people.

At the root of obesity research is the omission of racism and anti-Blackness.

World Health Day should have included fatphobia and specified racism. Avoiding explicitly saying “racism” and calling it social issues is the real problem. It never addresses that access to food was denied to Black and Brown people long before the pandemic. There was limited access to medical care, long before covid.

Cropped shot of black female in underwear holding her fat belly. Plus size woman in lingerie holding her belly with both hands on brown background.medical fatphobia during the pandemic

 In her article titled “Covid-19 Does Not Discriminate by Body Weight,” Christy Harrison says, “Structural racism and other forms of inequality in our society have long been linked to worse health outcomes, including higher rates of diabetes and hypertension (two likely Covid-19 risk factors) among people in oppressed groups.” 

The neglect that marginalized people experienced before Covid was exacerbated. 

White privilege allows you to feel this way https://t.co/qE9tqYIBud

— Kim Possible. (@Kim_Buh_Lee) April 6, 2021

There has never been a more perfect time to prioritize fat people’s health. Health equity does not exist without safer care for fat people. It does not exist without addressing the weight stigma that is attached to research and care. 

TAGGED: body politics, fatphobia
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email Copy Link Print
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

The Plus Bus partners for TCFStyle Brunch
Fashion and Industry

Join US! Our TCFStyle Brunch Series is BACK… in LA!

- Advertisement -

You May Also Enjoy

453003050
Body Politics

Don’t Put Us In A Corner: Why In-Store Access To Plus Size Clothing Matters

mightymurphin By mightymurphin
Curlycurvydiva on IG - B Bellies
Body Politics

The Dividing Truth Behind B Bellies

mightymurphin By mightymurphin
REI x Alder
Body Politics

REI Sets a New Standard for Inclusive Fashion for the Outdoors

Marie Denee By Marie Denee
Plus size woman- CBD in the bedroom
Health and Fitness

Can CBD Help Heat Things Up in The Bedroom? Vitality CBD Says So

Marie Denee By Marie Denee
Responsible Printed Legging Active Zone
Health and Fitness

Where You Can Find Really Cute and Functional Plus Size Activewear!

Marie Denee By Marie Denee
5 tips to help you combat diet culture
Body Politics

5 Tips to Help You Face Diet Culture In the New Year

mcgillmaggie By mcgillmaggie
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Affiliate Disclosure
Reading: Medical Fatphobia During The Covid-19 Pandemic: It’s Time For Radical Change
The Curvy FashionistaThe Curvy Fashionista
Follow US

© 2008- 2023 · by TCFStyle Media · All Rights Reserved ·

Removed from reading list

Undo
The Curvy Fashionista Logo
Welcome Back!

Please Sign in to Your Account

Lost your password?