Café Inquiry (Online) – Controversies About Body Size

This event is held online. (Click the button to join the Zoom meeting.)

It has been reported that we are in midst of an obesity epidemic. Yet there has been a growing movement pushing for the recognition and elimination of anti-fat bias, which has been found to be present throughout our society and medical system. Are the harmful effects associated with increased weight purely physiologic or due to the pernicious effects of stigma?  Are the newly approved weight loss drugs a sign of hope or a reason for concern? If you would like to explore the topic ahead of time, there is a lot of material available on the web. This 45 minute “Sporkful” podcast, Ozempic Isn’t So Great For Fat People, Says Aubrey Gordon features an interview with Aubry Gordon, popular podcaster and author of the book You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People. This scholarly article provides an in depth examination of stigma surrounding obesity and its implications for public health. For a look into past attitudes about body perceptions, take a look at this article, Fatness and Thinness in the Middle Ages. This article from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism provides an in depth discussion of medical problems that have been associated with excess weight, including a description of mechanisms. This site from the Harvard School of Public Health, Obesity Prevention Source has several links to topics about causes and consequences of obesity, and strategies for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Finally, this article from the New York Times (PDF of the article here) discusses a program in San Antonio that addresses efforts to help patients with type 2 diabetes in a non stigmatizing way.

Join us at the next Café Inquiry as we examine these important issues!

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month on the second and fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.