This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! One of the most common experiences for higher-weight patients is to being told to “eat less and exercise more” by a healthcare practitioner who has little to no information about what we eat or how much we exercise. This is a practice that must absolutely stop for any and all of the following reasons:
Exercise more is often seen as the “less harmful” of the two because “everyone” supposedly benefits from exercise. But this is not true! Exercise, even what many consider gentler or fun movements or activities, can be contraindicated for people with certain disabilities and/or medical conditions like ME/CFS. We’re now seeing Long Covid as very similar to ME/CFS so this is an increasing population for whom exercise can be harmful. One of the key recommendations to reduce chances of developing Long Covid is to rest and avoid exercise and any inessential activity for longer than you think necessary if you have Covid, up to several weeks after symptoms have stopped. Fat people, however, are those most likely to be pressured to exercise even when it is not helpful and can be actively harmful to physical and/or mental health.
This came up for me just yesterday, with my doctor--who has up until this point been very weight-neutral in our interactions, so it left me really dejected. I have a bunch of unpleasant symptoms (that the last time they occurred, were caused by a vitamin deficiency) and was also having extreme reactions to mosquito bites, so I asked about my immune system. She said my issues were probably caused by another condition I'm already managing whose recent tests make that unlikely, but that also she 'recommends I exercise and eat lots of fruits and vegetables.' Since this came from out of nowhere and was based completely on assumptions (I have in the past told her that I *do* exercise and eat fresh produce) it really offended me. Thanks for continuing to write about this.
Really I think it comes down to having a conversation with patients, rather than a lecture.
Exercise more is often seen as the “less harmful” of the two because “everyone” supposedly benefits from exercise. But this is not true! Exercise, even what many consider gentler or fun movements or activities, can be contraindicated for people with certain disabilities and/or medical conditions like ME/CFS. We’re now seeing Long Covid as very similar to ME/CFS so this is an increasing population for whom exercise can be harmful. One of the key recommendations to reduce chances of developing Long Covid is to rest and avoid exercise and any inessential activity for longer than you think necessary if you have Covid, up to several weeks after symptoms have stopped. Fat people, however, are those most likely to be pressured to exercise even when it is not helpful and can be actively harmful to physical and/or mental health.
This came up for me just yesterday, with my doctor--who has up until this point been very weight-neutral in our interactions, so it left me really dejected. I have a bunch of unpleasant symptoms (that the last time they occurred, were caused by a vitamin deficiency) and was also having extreme reactions to mosquito bites, so I asked about my immune system. She said my issues were probably caused by another condition I'm already managing whose recent tests make that unlikely, but that also she 'recommends I exercise and eat lots of fruits and vegetables.' Since this came from out of nowhere and was based completely on assumptions (I have in the past told her that I *do* exercise and eat fresh produce) it really offended me. Thanks for continuing to write about this.