The first-ever plus-sized <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/miss-universe">Miss Universe</a> contestant, Jane Dipika Garrett, said she struggles with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity">weight gain</a> due to a medical condition.
The 22-year-old beauty pageant participant said she was surprised to have made it so far in the competition. Garrett, who represents Nepal, spoke with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/plus-size-miss-universe-contestant-responds-critics-body-shaming">Fox News Digital</a> about the experience so far. 
&#8220;I really did not expect to get that much applause on the stage or that much spotlight,&#8221; Garrett told the outlet. &#8220;I came with a humble heart… but when I won on that stage, I got the loudest applause from the whole entire audience. And that felt so good because it was like a breakthrough moment for me and for society that they see something different, that they see real size beauty.&#8221;
Miss Nepal also noted how some viewers had negative reactions to her being a contender for Miss Universe.
&#8220;I see things like, &#8216;Oh, she&#8217;s a whale,&#8217; or &#8216;That&#8217;s disgusting. I&#8217;m going to vomit.&#8217; Or like, &#8216;She&#8217;s promoting obesity.&#8217; &#8216;Why don&#8217;t you go to the gym?&#8217; And things like that,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And it&#8217;s like they don&#8217;t even know my story. They don&#8217;t even know what I&#8217;m going through.&#8221;
Garrett told Fox News that she has a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). This condition causes the ovaries to produce a higher amount of male sex hormones, which can lead to weight gain, irregular periods, acne, cysts, infertility, and excess hair growth.
&#8220;So it&#8217;s very easy for us to gain weight,” the beauty pageant contestant said. “Even if we just look at a piece of cake, we can gain weight,&#8221; she said. &#8220;[Critics are] just judging me from social media. And that&#8217;s their problem. I don&#8217;t let it bother me… Society can be very cruel. People can be very cruel sometimes.&#8221;
&#8220;Recently, I&#8217;ve gained a lot of weight because of my hormonal issues,” Garrett continued. “And that&#8217;s also really taken a toll on my mental health and my self-esteem because I thought that I wasn&#8217;t good enough or that I wasn&#8217;t beautiful enough. But I really had to get the validation for myself and learn how to have a positive mindset and to love myself despite not feeling my best self,&#8221; she said. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s about being confident in your own skin and accepting who you are, where you are at. So I had to really remove all of those messages that were coming from society as well as coming from my own mind. So I had to really brainwash myself again and accept who I am and love myself.&#8221;
Garrett also said she believes that any body type can be beautiful. 
&#8220;You don&#8217;t have to do something like what a celebrity does or that a model does to be considered beautiful. I think that what&#8217;s most important for you, whatever suits you, is what is beautiful for you. And then I think that&#8217;s so important to just embrace who you are and love who you are and not try to fit into what society says is beautiful,&#8221; Garrett added. 
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Miss Nepal went on to describe how she struggled with mental health and “had a lot of eating disorders and mental health issues” during childhood. 
&#8220;I would feel like I&#8217;m not good enough. I&#8217;m too big because I&#8217;ve always been naturally big-boned. The boys had naturally a bigger figure. I&#8217;ve always been curvy since I was a child,” she said.
Finally, Garrett said being healthy is more important than being very thin. &#8220;Some models can completely starve themselves and do like liposuction or something. And there&#8217;s nothing wrong with that. That&#8217;s their own choices, but then they could be promoting that as their beauty standards,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And then some people that are very overweight and are very unhealthy could be promoting that and saying that that that they&#8217;re being body positive. But I think that there should be a balance.&#8221; 
She added, “Body positivity for me basically stands for whatever body that you&#8217;re in. You accept it, you love yourself, you are embracing what you are, but you&#8217;re also going towards a healthy lifestyle.&#8221;
This year’s Miss Universe contest previously made headlines for the inclusion of two trans-identifying contestants, 23-year-old flight attendant Marina Machete who is competing as Miss Portugal and Rikkie Kollé, who won the title of Miss Netherlands.
Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua was crowned the 2023 Miss Universe during the 72nd Miss Universe Competition on November 18.

Miss Nepal

First Plus-Sized Miss Universe Contestant Describes Her Struggles With Weight Gain

Beauty Pageant

Miss Universe

Obesity

Social Issues

World

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oprah-winfrey">Oprah Winfrey</a> shared candid thoughts about her fluctuating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity">weight</a> and the weight loss “miracle” drug that’s so popular among <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">celebrities</a>. 
The 69-year-old talk show host and media proprietor made the remarks while hosting a panel called &#8220;The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight.”
&#8220;You all know I’ve been on this journey for most of my life. My highest weight was 237 lbs. I don’t know if there is another public person whose weight struggle has been exploited as much as mine over the years,&#8221; Winfrey told the audience, per <a href="https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-treated-differently-shopping-over-200-lbs-8285815">People</a>. 
&#8220;You all have watched me diet and diet and diet,&#8221; she went on, insisting she struggles to maintain because her body “always seems to want to go back to a certain weight.&#8221;
The billionaire also said she was treated differently in stores depending on how much she weighed, saying, &#8220;This is a world that has shamed people for being overweight forever.&#8221;
She continued, &#8220;It’s that thing where people are like, &#8216;Let me show you the gloves. Would you like to look at the handbags? Because we know that there’s nothing in here for you.&#8217; There is a condescension. There is stigma.&#8221;
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Winfrey also talked about being “shamed” in the tabloids for not having the “willpower” to lose weight. She discussed the potential of taking Ozempic, a semaglutide approved for treating type II diabetes that’s become extremely popular for its effectiveness with weight loss.
“Shouldn&#8217;t we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” Winfrey said. “Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt, ‘I&#8217;ve got to do this on my own. Because if I take the drug, that&#8217;s the easy way out,’” she continued.
Oprah has been a vocal proponent of the popular Weight Watchers diet plan since August 2015. She said in a January 2016 issue of <a href="https://www.oprah.com/app/o-magazine.html">O Magazine</a>, &#8220;I was fed up with my lose-and-gain again routine. I had enough of no-carb regimens. Some people can live without bread and pasta, but it just doesn&#8217;t make sense to me.&#8221;
Despite being an ambassador for Weight Watchers, Winfrey has been struggling with maintaining her weight in recent years.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Weighs In On Weight Loss Drug Ozempic: ‘That’s The Easy Way Out’

Oprah Weighs In On Weight Loss Drug Ozempic: 'That's The Easy Way Out'

Celebrities

Entertainment

Overweight

U.S.

A new study has found that obese people are at risk for being diagnosed with more <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cancer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cancers</a> than previously thought.
Those with larger body mass index (BMI) measurements have been associated with 13 different types of cancer, but a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10313757/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new study</a> published in Nature Communications shows that the number of cancers connected to obesity has grown to 18. Previously, obesity was linked to breast, bowel, pancreatic, and kidney cancers, but according to the new study, being overweight is linked to a number of other common cancers too.
“This study shows that longer duration, greater degree, and younger age of onset of overweight and obesity during early adulthood are positively associated with risk of 18 cancers, including leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and among never-smokers, head and neck, and bladder cancers which are not yet considered as obesity-related cancers in the literature,” the study’s authors wrote. “Our findings support public health strategies for cancer prevention focussing on preventing and reducing early overweight and obesity.”
The study examined more than 2.6 million Spanish adults who were 40 or younger and cancer free in 2009, The Independent <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/cancer-obesity-young-adult-leukaemia-b2370301.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Those included in the study were observed for nine years and 225,396 of them were diagnosed with cancer. The study found that those who were obese in early adulthood appeared to have an increased risk of cancer, along with those who were obese for a longer period of time.
Dr. Heinz Freisling, one of the study&#8217;s co-authors, said medical professionals need to re-evaluate “the cancer burden associated with overweight and obesity, which currently is likely underestimated.”
The findings linking obesity to more cancers come as “fat acceptance” becomes more mainstream in American culture. One author, Virginia Sole-Smith, even wrote a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Talk-Parenting-Diet-Culture-ebook/dp/B0B1Y5TKLP">book</a> about de-stigmatizing obesity for children. In the book, Sole-Smith attempts to “debunk” the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States by arguing that society’s fear of fatness could be more detrimental than minors being overweight.
“The real danger to a child in a larger body is how we treat them for having that body,” she writes in “Fat Talk.”
Some elected officials have also pushed the idea that a person’s “body type&#8221; has no connection to their health. After signing a bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of height and weight for employment, housing, and public accommodations in the city, New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eric-adams-signs-bill-banning-weight-discrimination-says-body-type-not-connected-to-whether-youre-healthy-or-unhealthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attempted to debunk</a> the scientifically proven reality that body type does affect a person’s health.
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“Everyone knows that I’m a person that believes in health, so when you talk about not discriminating against someone because of their body type, it’s not fighting against obesity; it’s just being fair,” the mayor said, adding, “And science has shown that body type is not a connection to if you are healthy or unhealthy. I think that’s a misnomer.”
After reading the study, Dr. Panagiota Mitrou, director of research, policy, and innovation at the World Cancer Research Fund, remarked on the importance a person’s weight plays in their overall well-being. 
“Our own evidence shows that maintaining a healthy weight throughout life is one of the most important things people can do to reduce their cancer risk, and early prevention in adulthood is key,” Mitrou said.

A woman’s feet on a weight scale

Obesity Linked To Increasing Number Of Cancers: Study

Cancer

Fat Acceptance

Health

Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">John Goodman</a> showed off his slimmed-down appearance while walking the red carpet at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco on June 18.
The 71-year-old star is best known for his role as the patriarch in the hit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">sitcom</a> “Roseanne” from 1988 until 1997. Goodman also starred in major Hollywood films such as “The Big Lebowski.” The Emmy Award winner is currently appearing on the HBO series, “The Righteous Gemstones.”
<div id="attachment_572913" style="width: 752px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-572913" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-572913 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/John-Goodman-1-742x576.jpg" alt="John Goodman" width="742" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/John-Goodman-1-742x576.jpg 742w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/John-Goodman-1-300x233.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/John-Goodman-1-768x597.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/John-Goodman-1-1536x1193.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/John-Goodman-1-2048x1591.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 742px) 100vw, 742px" />Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Brad Washburn/FilmMagic</div>
Goodman has always been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity">heavy</a>, but in recent years spoke about working hard to change his diet and lose weight. 
“I just stopped eating all the time,” the “Roseanne” actor told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/john-goodman-reveals-inspiration-massive-weight-loss/story?id=37577068">ABC News</a> in 2016 of his approach to weight loss. 
“I’d have a handful of food and it’d go to my mouth. I was just eating all the time. I was just eating alcoholically. In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds, and then reward myself with a six-pack of Bud or whatever and just go back to my old habits. Then this time I wanted to do it slowly, move, exercise. I’m getting to the age where I can’t afford to sit still anymore. And it gives me the energy to work, because work is very draining.”
He described reaching a breaking point. 
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“I just got tired, sick and tired of looking at myself,” Goodman told the outlet. “You’re shaving in the mirror and you don’t want to look at yourself. It gets dangerous.”
The actor told <a href="https://people.com/health/john-goodman-how-i-lost-100-lbs-and-counting/">People</a> magazine in 2010 that he managed to lose 100 pounds after cutting alcohol and sugar out of his diet. Goodman also hired health coach Mackie Shilstone to help him reach his health goals.
“It takes a lot of creative energy to sit on your a** and figure out what you’re going to eat next … I wanted to live life better,” Goodman said.
“This didn’t happen overnight — it’s been an ongoing process,” Shilstone told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2015/11/10/the-secrets-behind-john-goodmans-100-pound-weight-loss/">New York Post</a>. She described instructing her client to follow a “Mediterranean-style eating plan,” which meant consuming mostly fish, nuts, olive oil, vegetables, and fruit. 
Goodman also made sure to exercise six days a week and always tried to reach his goal of 10,000 to 12,000 steps per day.

John Goodman

John Goodman Shows Off Dramatic Weight Loss On Red Carpet

John Goodman Looks Unrecognizable Following Dramatic Weight Loss

Hollywood

New York City Democratic Mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eric-adams-blasts-biden-says-border-crisis-has-destroyed-nyc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric Adams</a> claimed Friday that “body type” has no connection to a person’s health after signing a bill banning height and weight discrimination. 
The bill <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/364-23/mayor-adams-signs-legislation-prohibit-height-weight-discrimination-employment-housing-#/0">signed</a> by Adams prohibits discrimination on the basis of height and weight for employment, housing, and public accommodations in the city. The bill contains an exception for employers who need to consider height and weight to abide by federal, state, or local laws and regulations. After signing the legislation, Adams discussed why he believes it’s necessary and made a scientifically erroneous statement. 
“Everyone knows that I’m a person that believes in health, so when you talk about not discriminating against someone because of their body type, it’s not fighting against obesity; it’s just being fair,” the mayor said, adding, “And science has shown that body type is not a connection to if you are healthy or unhealthy. I think that’s a misnomer.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
JUST IN: After signing a bill banning height and weight discrimination in NYC, Mayor Eric Adams tells a reporter that, &quot;Body type is not a connection to whether you&#39;re healthy or unhealthy.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Uh9zjq4Dbb">pic.twitter.com/Uh9zjq4Dbb</a>
&mdash; Forbes (@Forbes) <a href="https://twitter.com/Forbes/status/1662104181925355521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Adams did not provide a study or bring receipts to back up his claim that body type doesn’t affect health, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/effects/index.html">states</a> that obese people are at an increased risk of serious diseases and health conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and stroke. Those who are underweight also face serious health risks such as vitamin deficiencies, anemia, and decreased immune function, <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/underweight-health-risks">according</a> to Healthline. 
New York City’s new law is set to take effect on November 22. Six other <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-city-law-ban-height-weight-discrimination-mayor-eric-adams/">cities</a>, including Washington, D.C., and San Francisco as well as the states of Michigan and Washington also have laws against height and weight discrimination. Similar legislation is currently being considered in New Jersey and Massachusetts, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/nyregion/weight-discrimination-law-nyc.html">reported</a>.  
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“Size discrimination is a social justice issue and a public health threat,” said New York City Councilmember Shaun Abreu. “People with different body types are denied access to job opportunities and equal wages — and they have had no legal recourse to contest it. Worse yet, millions are taught to hate their bodies. As the global beacon of tolerance, it is only right that New York City is leading the national effort to end size discrimination with the signing of this law today.”

Eric Adams

Eric Adams Signs Bill Banning Weight Discrimination, Says ‘Body Type’ Not Connected ‘To Whether You’re Healthy Or Unhealthy’

Eric Adams Signs Bill Banning Weight Discrimination, Says 'Body Type' Not Connected 'To Whether You're Healthy Or Unhealthy'

Body positivity

New York City

Politics

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obesity</a> pills could form a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">market</a> worth between $50 billion and $200 billion within the next several years, according to estimates from investment <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banks</a>.
Semaglutide treatments sold under brand names such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus have gained <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/horrifying-meghan-mccain-says-shes-being-urged-to-take-ozempic-for-weight-loss-one-month-postpartum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traction</a> in recent months as celebrities use the drug to suppress appetite and slow gastric emptying, phenomena which make users feel fuller for longer periods of time. Barclays Head of European Equity Research Emily Field said in a research <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/28/obesity-drugs-to-be-worth-200-billion-in-next-10-years-barclays-says.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a> provided to CNBC that the substance, which is administered with a once-weekly injection and typically used for weight management among people with type 2 diabetes, could see $200 billion in sales by 2030.
“Immuno-oncology was the story of the last decade. It feels like obesity is the story of this decade,” Field told the outlet. The analyst initially predicted that semaglutide treatments could constitute a $100 billion market, but updated her estimate this week.
Some 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 40 million children across the world are clinically obese, according to <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/04-03-2022-world-obesity-day-2022-accelerating-action-to-stop-obesity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the World Health Organization. Half of the global population is forecasted to be either overweight or obese by 2035, according to an <a href="https://www.worldobesityday.org/assets/downloads/World_Obesity_Atlas_2023_Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the World Obesity Foundation, creating a sizable opportunity for pharmaceutical companies if current perceptions of weight loss treatments were to shift.
Morgan Stanley Managing Director Mark Purcell said in another investor <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/obesity-drugs-investment-opportunity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a> that the obesity medicine market could reach $54 billion within the next seven years. He contended that “the treatment of obesity is on the cusp of moving into mainstream primary care management” and noted that a similar precedent exists for medicines designed to treat high blood pressure, which expanded from a new development to a $30 billion market several decades ago.
“Obesity has been viewed and treated mainly as a symptom of lifestyle choices. Diet, exercise and surgical intervention were the only options for addressing the condition and its associated health risks, such as heart disease,” the report said. “But with a greater understanding of obesity’s root causes, it is now classified medically as a chronic disease. This shift has helped spur new research into developing treatments, including a range of next-generation medications to manage weight, thereby preventing the illnesses that obesity causes.”
Purcell noted that 7% of the 650 million obese people in the world are diagnosed and referred for medical treatment, a statistic which he forecasted could nearly quadruple by 2035.
An increased reliance on obesity drugs among overweight Americans could create significant burdens for public health insurance programs such as Medicare, which is currently prohibited by law from covering prescriptions for weight loss, but could soon be “compelled to cover antiobesity medications,” according to a perspective <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2300516" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a> in the New England Journal of Medicine. Semaglutide treatments currently carry an annual price per user of $13,600 after rebates and discounts, meaning that Medicare could pay for $27 billion in obesity prescriptions each year if 10% of the obese adults older than 60 were to take the treatments.
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Other research has indicated that patients must continue taking semaglutide treatments in order to avoid regaining weight. One <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777886" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the typical participant lost nearly 11% of their body weight after 20 weeks of taking injections; over the next 48 weeks, however, those who ceased the treatments saw 7% increases in body weight, while those who continued saw 8% further declines.

Obese Man

Big Business: Obesity Drug Market Could Be Worth $200 Billion By 2030

Obesity Drug Market Could Be Worth $200 Billion By 2030

Banks

Business

Medical

De-stigmatizing obesity for kids may be the newest frontier of the fat acceptance movement.
At least, that’s the goal of author Virginia Sole-Smith. Her new book “Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture” advocates for parents learning to embrace their overweight children just the way they are. She also believes in letting kids eat whatever they want, including candy and sweets, without forcing them to try vegetables or enjoy balanced meals of traditionally healthy foods.
The author, who describes herself as an “anti-diet journalist,” spoke with <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/interview-virginia-sole-smith-parenting-fatphobia.html#comments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Cut</a> about some of her thoughts on kids and diet. In the article titled “What If You Weren’t Scared of Your Kid Being Fat?” Sole-Smith said that one of the most common questions parents ask is how often their kids should be able to eat certain foods. Using the example of ice cream, she gave her usual response. 
“There are seven days in a week. Your child can have ice cream seven days a week. There is no law against this,” she said, while insisting that if a parent inquired over their teenager asking for an entire box of Oreo cookies, her response would be, “Pour a glass of milk — so they can dunk them?”
The 41-year-old mother of two makes the argument that limiting certain foods just makes them more appealing to kids. Her approach assumes that children learn self-control by not having any rules at all, thereby making sugary treats less exciting. 
“Vegetables are the least important part of it to me,” she told the publication. “They have their whole lives to decide if they want to eat kale.” Sole-Smith also described some of the dinner rules at her house, which include, “No pressure/Listen to your body” and “You don’t have to earn dessert.”
Sole-Smith attempts to “debunk” the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States by arguing that society’s fear of fatness could be more detrimental than minors being overweight. “The real danger to a child in a larger body is how we treat them for having that body,” she writes in “Fat Talk.”
The fat acceptance activist’s arguments are similar to those made by individuals promoting “transgender rights” for children. They say that kids should be able to tell us who they are, no matter how young they are. But these adults seem to ignore the fact that they are meant to be the ones in charge.
Children learn eating habits from their parents. Parents and other trusted adults have traditionally served as guides to show children how to exist in the world. Minors literally don’t have the mental capacity to understand the long-term effects of eating cookies for dinner every night. That’s why there are age restrictions on certain activities, such as getting tattoos and purchasing alcohol. It’s also why up until now, most everyone agreed that parents should promote good eating habits for their children. 
Sole-Smith thinks kids should be running the show and that everyone should be more accepting of overweight people because ultimately, their mental health trumps the physical risks of being obese. 
Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC</a> called childhood obesity a “serious problem” which leads to problems including “high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, breathing problems such as asthma and sleep apnea, and joint problems.” They reported that 19.7% of children aged 2 to 19 were classified as obese according to BMI charts. That’s 14.7 million children and adolescents who could face health problems due to their weight.
This week, Sole-Smith went on NPR’s “Fresh Air” podcast to promote her new book and further explain her pro-obesity stance. She said that the pursuit of weight loss is rooted in white supremacy.
“The thin ideal is definitely a white ideal. When we trace the history of modern diet culture, we really trace it back in the United States to the end of slavery,” Sole-Smith told host Tonya Mosley.
“Obviously, white supremacy is trying to maintain the power structure. So celebrating a thin white body as the ideal body is a way to ‘other’ and demonize black and brown bodies, bigger bodies, anyone who doesn’t fit into that norm. So this is really about maintaining systems of white supremacy and patriarchy.”
“If you can understand that, actually, by continuing to pursue thinness you are on some level, maintaining your complicity with white supremacy and patriarchy,” she continued.
Sole-Smith said that fat people are discriminated against in the same way that other minority groups experience “racism or other forms of bias.”
&#8220;We as a culture have really zeroed in on weight, because we think that&#8217;s the piece that we should be able to control. But not only do we not have very much control over weight, it also won&#8217;t fix anything else,&#8221; the author <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/25/1171112216/fat-talk-diet-culture-parenting-kids-virginia-sole-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NPR. &#8220;All it really ends up doing is pathologizing kids&#8217; bodies and giving parents extra pressure and extra guilt and these sort of unrealistic standards we can&#8217;t get to.&#8221;
The author used to write weight loss stories for women’s magazines such as Glamour. Her perspective on childhood diets changed after her one-month-old daughter experienced medical trauma and had to be put on a feeding tube.
Sole-Smith told The Cut that the ordeal led her to decide that “obsessing over it doesn’t fix it — it makes it worse.” Following that experience, the author decided to let her two children make their own nutrition choices. “It’s the power to say no, to be curious and try new things, and to decide when and how much they want to eat,” she explained of her approach.
As more and more people advocate for fat acceptance, it’s only a matter of time before activists decide that overweight kids existing on a diet of candy and soda should just be left to live as they please. Who are we to judge?

Cropped Image Of Tempted Boy Holding French Fries Packet

Fat Acceptance Activist Insists Childhood Obesity Isn’t A Problem After All — That’s Just White Supremacy

Fat Acceptance Activist Insists Childhood Obesity Isn't A Problem After All — That's Just White Supremacy

Books

Children's Health

Food

Readers Pass

Woke Culture

So-called &#8220;forever <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chemicals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chemicals</a>&#8221; in drinking water are contributing to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obesity</a> and making weight loss harder, a new study finds.
The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.23755" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a>, lead by Dr. Philippe Grandjean of the University of Rhode Island School of Pharmacy, found that increased concentrations of Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, caused weight gain after an initial diet. The study noted that PFAS may have a larger role to play in weight loss struggles because of how ubiquitous they are in everyday life.
&#8220;Obesity has a multifactorial origin, and the impact of dietary constituents has been examined in several weight loss interventions,&#8221; the authors began. &#8220;[S]tudy results have shown substantial variability that may suggest an impact of other factors. In particular, the pathogenesis of obesity may be affected by exposure to certain environmental toxicants, such as the perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs). Experimental toxicology studies have supported this notion, as PFASs can alter energy metabolism, glucose control, and thyroid hormone homeostasis. Prospective studies have shown that elevated PFAS exposures are associated with weight gain and obesity development in children, as well as in adults.&#8221;
The study built upon data from previous weight loss studies in Europe. Researchers examined blood plasma samples from patients in that study, and found that higher concentrations of PFAS led to weight gains between 0.2 and 0.7 kilograms (about 0.5 to 1.5 pounds). The study also measured how individual pollutants contributed to weight gain: higher levels of the chemical perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) caused an average weight gain of 0.9 kg (about 2 pounds); higher levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) caused an average weight gain of nearly 1.5 kg (about 3.5 pounds).
The study cited previous research linking air pollutants and industrial chemicals to weight gain; PFAS are among the most persistent and active substances among them; they are widely present in the environment and consistently found in human blood. &#8220;The ubiquity of PFASs is linked to their extensive use in industrial and consumer products, including food packaging, paper and textile coatings, nonstick cookware, and fire-extinguishing foams,&#8221; the researchers noted. &#8220;Because of differences in sources and in toxicokinetic fate, PFAS exposures seem not to correlate well with other potential obesogens, thus making confounding less likely.&#8221;
&#8220;Our study adds new evidence that being overweight isn&#8217;t just about a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits — PFAS are increasingly suspected to be a contributing factor,&#8221; Grandjean told <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-link-chemicals-weight-gain.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">medicalxpress.com</a>. &#8220;The PFAS exposures in the European participants are quite comparable to levels in America, so my concern is that our exposures to PFAS are making it difficult for us to avoid getting overweight.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/experts-raise-alarm-on-harmful-chemicals-in-fertilizer-water-systems" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PFAS</a> are getting renewed scrutiny after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dramatically <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2022/06/epa-toxic-forever-chemicals-levels-drinking-water-should-be-much">scaled back</a> the levels it considers acceptable in drinking water, leading to more awareness about how dangerous exposure to these compounds truly is.
“We’ve actually poisoned the world with them,” Andria Ventura, legislative and policy director at Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund, told The Daily Wire.
PFAS chemicals enter our bodies via the food we eat and the water we drink, then return to the environment through human waste, forming a potentially dangerous cycle of human and environmental contamination. One way they go back into the environment is through fertilizer made from sewage.
The chemicals have been linked to an array of cancers, hypertension, low birth rates, and issues with immunity, such as the ability of children to be helped by vaccines. The EPA recently decided they were so dangerous that it lowered the acceptable levels from 70 parts per trillion to as little as 0.004 parts per trillion, a drop of more than 99.9%.
Charlotte Pence Bond contributed to this report.

‘Forever Chemicals’ Linked To Weight Gain, Making Dieting Harder, Study Finds

'Forever Chemicals' Linked To Weight Gain, Making Dieting Harder, Study Finds

Chemicals

Medical Research

Science

study

“Mike &amp; Molly” alum <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Billy Gardell</a> is discussing his life now after losing 150 pounds, including some positive benefits the weight loss had on his health and family.
The 53-year-old actor <a href="https://www.etonline.com/interview-billy-gardell-opens-up-about-his-150-pound-weight-loss-and-reveals-how-much-he-weighs-today-202611">told</a> Entertainment Tonight that his current weight fluctuates between 205 and 210, representing a loss of 150 pounds since getting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity">gastric bypass</a> surgery two years ago. &#8220;Self-care is important, and I think I finally got there,” he said.
&#8220;I think you got to find peace with yourself and at some point, look in the mirror and go, you know, it&#8217;s probably time to take care of you. Then I didn&#8217;t get that note early on,&#8221; Gardell told the outlet. &#8220;So I&#8217;m a big believer that when you get it, you get it. It doesn&#8217;t matter when. As long as you get it.&#8221;
The celeb said his type 2 diabetes is now &#8220;gone,&#8221; <a href="https://pagesix.com/2023/04/18/mike-molly-star-billy-gardell-details-150-pound-weight-loss/">per</a> Page Six. “No diabetes, resting heartbeat went from 113 to 68. Walking around pretty healthy these days.&#8221;
“I eat like all the people I used to make fun of, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve got my fill and now I’m at the place where I can have a couple bites of something decadent if I want.”
Gardell also mentioned how critics online would find a reason to comment no matter how much he weighs.
&#8220;Of course, there&#8217;s always people online that, you know, when I was heavy, they were like, &#8216;You&#8217;re too heavy!&#8217; And now it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Are you sick?&#8217; Can I just walk the earth, please?!&#8221; he said.
While the “Mike &amp; Molly” star is focusing on his health, he admitted to still having at least one vice. &#8220;I&#8217;m still smoking cigarettes,&#8221; Gardell said. &#8220;But I&#8217;m working on that one. A buddy of mine told me, &#8216;Knock them down in the order they&#8217;re killing you.'&#8221;
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The sitcom star said his son, William III, helped inspire him to make the change to his health.
&#8220;When you hit 50, you start doing that dad math, like, &#8216;If I can live 25 more years, and he&#8217;ll be 40,&#8217; &#8230; You know what I mean? So I want to be here for him,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been an example in a lot of good ways for my child, but I feel like I wasn&#8217;t a good example of health for him. And so I want him to see that. It doesn&#8217;t matter what age you are, if you are willing to do something a day at a time, you can change anything.&#8221;
Gardell said it’s a &#8220;real gift&#8221; to be able to shop at mainstream clothing stores, but says he has &#8220;a few critiques about being skinny.&#8221; 
&#8220;The ankles are too tight,&#8221; he said of his new clothing. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to do yoga to get out of my pants. That&#8217;s where I miss my fat boy pants, because you could drop them and step out like a fireman.&#8221;

Billy Gardell

‘Mike & Molly’ Actor Discusses 150 Lb Weight Loss, Says Diabetes Is ‘Gone’

'Mike & Molly' Actor Discusses 150 Lb Weight Loss, Says Diabetes Is 'Gone'

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-air-force" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air Force</a> has decreased its body weight standards for men and women as many Americans are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">too fat</a> to serve and the military struggles to find applicants. 
According to new standards posted by the Air Force, men can now have a body weight of 26% fat (up from 20%) and women can have a body weight of 36% fat (up from 28%). The Air Force said that this move was to widen the recruiting pool as fewer Americans have chosen a military career. 
&#8220;The Air Force is looking to open the aperture on qualifying a broader pool of young Americans for service in the Air Force. These changes bring the Air Force in line with DOD policy,&#8221; Leslie Brown, Air Force Recruiting Service spokeswoman, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/air-force-loosens-body-fat-requirements-us-obesity-surge-recruiting-struggles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News. &#8220;While recruits will be allowed to join with greater body fat percentages, they will still be expected to meet the same fitness standards as everyone else to stay in the service. That means meeting the waist-to-height ratio requirement the Air Force announced in January and implemented this month.&#8221; 
Currently, the Air Force is on pace to miss its active-duty recruiting goal by around 10%, according to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. The recruiting crisis comes after the Air Force forced <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/04/27/the-vast-majority-of-troops-kicked-out-for-covid-vaccine-refusal-received-general-discharges/">hundreds</a> of airmen out of the service over their refusal to get the COVID vaccine. 
According to a CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/resources/unfit-to-serve/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from last year, about a third of those aged 17-24 are “too heavy” to be in the military. Even if young Americans do meet the weight requirements, they may not be suited to the military for other related reasons. “Among the young adults who meet weight requirements, only 3 in 4 report physical activity levels that prepare them for challenges in basic training,” the CDC said. 
The CDC also noted that the rates of obesity among active duty service members had increased from 16% in 2015 to 19% in 2020. This presents another challenge as obese soldiers are more likely to get a musculoskeletal injury, at least according to one study. 
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&#8220;We are recruiting today&#8217;s generation, not my generation who joined more than 30 years ago, where a tattoo may have been taboo but is now a societal norm,&#8221; Brown added in her statement. &#8220;Or where youth now live a more sedentary lifestyle than before – we can take those new recruits and can promote physical fitness and overall healthier living decisions into their everyday routines as Airmen.&#8221; 
The Air Force is not the only military branch changing its standards. The Army <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/defense/599459-army-approves-reduced-physical-fitness-standards-for-women-older-soldiers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decided</a> last year to implement lower physical standards for women and older service members.

US Air Force strategic bomber

Air Force To Decrease Body Weight Standards For Entry As Americans Increasingly Too Fat To Enlist

Military

U.S. Air Force

Media personality <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meghan-mccain">Meghan McCain</a> said she’s being pressured to lose the baby weight just one month after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/motherhood">giving birth</a>.
The 38-year-old mom of two discussed the situation in an <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11772269/MEGHAN-MCCAIN-just-baby-Im-urged-miracle-shot-Ozempic-refuse.html">op-ed</a> in The Daily Mail. McCain said she’d been encouraged to use the prescription drug Ozempic, which has become a hot topic of conversation as celebrities have been using it for weight loss. 
The former co-host of “The View” just welcomed her second daughter, Clover Jade, on January 19. She and husband Ben Domenech also have a 2-year-old daughter named Liberty Sage.
&#8220;I just gave birth and I&#8217;m being urged to take a &#8216;miracle shot&#8217; of Ozempic as a quick fix &#8230; It&#8217;s horrifying, unfair and disturbing — and I refuse,&#8221; the op-ed title proclaims.
The article says McCain has been asked about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity">weight loss</a> even now, just four weeks postpartum, and that those people have been suggesting Ozempic specifically. 
&#8220;In case you&#8217;re unaware, there is a craze sweeping the nation: a new &#8216;miracle&#8217; drug. One injection, once a week, for a cool $1,000 a pop, and you can just melt the pounds away,&#8221; she wrote.
&#8220;Elon Musk says he uses it. Kyle Richards, of ‘Real Housewives’ fame, who recently flaunted newly emerged abs, has denied taking it. But fellow reality TV star Jackie Goldschneider claimed &#8216;a lot&#8217; of her fellow cast members are on it,&#8221; the columnist continued.
McCain wrote that there are &#8220;people who legitimately struggle with obesity and need Ozempic. But I am not one of those people.&#8221; That’s why she was surprised when &#8220;casual friends&#8221; and &#8220;industry acquaintances&#8221; inquired if she planned to take it.
&#8220;I&#8217;m told &#8216;everyone is doing it,&#8217; as if that was ever a compelling case,&#8221; she went on. &#8220;I hear, &#8216;Just take the shot,&#8217; as it has become known in shorthand. I was even offered a black market freebie by someone with &#8216;extra shots at home.'&#8221;
&#8220;Well, let me make one thing very clear. I&#8217;m not taking it. I refuse,” McCain concluded. “There&#8217;s a clear moral issue here. It&#8217;s hard to take a drug because swimsuit season is around the corner, while others need it to stay alive. And how can this be healthy?&#8221;
Ozempic is an anti-diabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and is also used to treat obesity. There have been shortages of the drug as it gains popularity in the Hollywood community and beyond as a so-called miracle weight loss drug that helps suppress appetite and slow down gastric emptying, which makes users feel fuller for longer.
It’s administered via a weekly injection. Recently, comedian Chelsea Handler admitted she was on Ozempic without realizing it.

The Algemeiner 8th Annual J100 Gala

‘Horrifying’: Meghan McCain Says She’s Being ‘Urged’ To Take Ozempic For Weight Loss One Month Postpartum

Meghan McCain Says She's Being 'Urged' To Take Ozempic For Weight Loss One Month Postpartum

Meghan McCain

Motherhood

Prescription Drugs

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/doi/10.1542/peds.2022-060640/190443/Clinical-Practice-Guideline-for-the-Evaluation-and?autologincheck=redirected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> new guidelines on Monday highlighting that childhood obesity can sometimes be addressed with medication and surgery.
An executive <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/doi/10.1542/peds.2022-060641/190440/Executive-Summary-Clinical-Practice-Guideline-for" target="_blank" rel="noopener">summary</a> of the guidance noted that pediatricians and other primary health care providers should offer children 12 years old and up — who are obese — medication for weight loss. It also said that they should offer referrals for teenagers who are 13 years of age and older and have severe obesity to be evaluated “for metabolic and bariatric surgery.”
The guidelines are the first comprehensive outline to be put forward by the <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2022/american-academy-of-pediatrics-issues-its-first-comprehensive-guideline-on-evaluating-treating-children-and-adolescents-with-obesity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AAP</a> in 15 years. 
“Weight is a sensitive topic for most of us, and children and teens are especially aware of the harsh and unfair stigma that comes with being affected by it,” Sarah Hampl, MD, a lead author of the guidance, said. 
An AAP statement that has yet to be released will talk about obesity prevention, as that is not outlined in the new guidance. 
“There is no evidence that ‘watchful waiting’ or delayed treatment is appropriate for children with obesity,” Sandra Hassink, MD, an author of the guidance, also said. “The goal is to help patients make changes in lifestyle, behaviors or environment in a way that is sustainable and involves families in decision-making at every step of the way.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2017 to 2020, 19.7% of children <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html#:~:text=Prevalence%20of%20Childhood%20Obesity%20in%20the%20United%20States&amp;text=The%20prevalence%20of%20obesity%20was,to%2019-year-olds." target="_blank" rel="noopener">between</a> the ages of 2 and 19 were obese, amounting to around 14.7 million kids and teens. 
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and the forced massive school shutdowns that accompanied it, continue to be felt by children across the United States. It had a negative effect on childhood obesity, as well. A CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7037a3.htm?s_cid=mm7037a3_w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from 2021 <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/09/17/1038211236/weight-gain-obesity-children-teens-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> that the body mass index rate increase “approximately doubled during the pandemic&#8221; compared to a time before the pandemic for the same age group. Those who were already overweight or obese prior to the pandemic, as well as young kids, saw the biggest spikes. 
“We now have evidence that obesity therapy is effective. There is treatment, and now is the time to recognize that obesity is a chronic disease and should be addressed as we address other chronic diseases,” Hassink <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/new-guidelines-treating-childhood-obesity-include-medications-surgery-rcna64651" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. 
&#8220;Obesity is not a lifestyle problem. It is not a lifestyle disease,&#8221; Aaron Kelly, co-director at the University of Minnesota&#8217;s Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obesity-kids-teens-drugs-surgery-early-new-guidelines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. &#8220;It predominately emerges from biological factors.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not different than you have asthma and now we have an inhaler for you,&#8221; Hassink noted.

ACABEF6E-C490-4328-96F7-3BE8B3FF90C7_1_105_c

New Pediatric Guidelines Highlight Medication, Potential Surgery, For Childhood Obesity

New AAP Guidelines On Childhood Obesity Highlight Medication, Potential Surgery

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