Moving Toward Health Policy that Respects Both Science and People Living with Obesity

Theodore K Kyle; Fatima Cody Stanford

doi:10.1016/j.cnur.2021.08.003

Moving Toward Health Policy that Respects Both Science and People Living with Obesity

Nurs Clin North Am. 2021 Dec;56(4):635-645. doi: 10.1016/j.cnur.2021.08.003.

Authors

Theodore K Kyle¹, Fatima Cody Stanford²

Affiliations

¹ ConscienHealth, 2270 Country Club Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15241, USA. Electronic address: ted.kyle@conscienhealth.org.
² Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology-Neuroendocrine, Massachusetts General Hospital, MGH Weight Center, 50 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH), 50 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

Abstract

Through four decades of rising obesity, health policy has been mostly ineffective. Prevention policies failed to reverse rising trends in prevalence, partly because they are often based on biased mental models about what should work to prevent obesity, rather than empiric evidence for what does work. Bias toward people living with obesity harms health, while contributing to poor access to effective care that might serve to improve it. Better public policy will come from an increased application of objective obesity science, research to fill knowledge gaps, and respect for the human dignity of people who live with obesity.

Keywords: Access to care; Health policy; Obesity; Objectivity; Population health; Prevention; Scientific rigor.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Review

MeSH terms

Health Policy / trends*
Health Promotion*
Health Services Accessibility*
Humans
Obesity* / epidemiology
Obesity* / prevention & control
Population Health
Science*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding