[ad_1]
Erin Farmer never considered herself obese. The 25-year-old threw a shot put at the 2016 US Olympic Trials and was a Division 1 athlete for the state of Arkansas – but Texas State Department Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stated so.
Farmer, like 42.5% of Americans, has a body mass index over 30 years old, which makes her eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in its country of origin. At least 29 states have expanded their vaccine eligibility to people who qualify as obese.
When she learned that the metric qualified her for the vaccine, Farmer felt a mixture of emotions. On the one hand, she was ready to make the obesity label that had followed her throughout her life work for her, usually with negative connotations. She also felt that even though she met the criteria for an obese person, it was an unfair categorization.
“I’ve been an athlete my whole life,” she said. “So my weight doesn’t really reflect the way I live my life and my lifestyle. I understand that people feel embarrassed about this because obviously your weight doesn’t determine who you are as. that person or your health. “
And the data on public emotions related to obesity backs it up. Nirit Pisano, clinical psychologist and chief psychologist at Cognovi Labs, a group that uses artificial intelligence to examine the emotions and behavior of audiences around certain topics, decided to use the company’s AI to study the problem after chatting with a customer who was having difficulty finding out. he qualified for the vaccine as an obese person.
“I saw this huge wave of people reacting really emotionally to this thing, so a lot of disgust and anger,” Pisano said.
This is because the etiquette of obesity is difficult, she said.
“It’s an emotional issue for a lot of people. And even those who have a hard time gaining weight or accepting your weight or whatever stage you are at, seeing it written down that way or just having it. a word there. “
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists overweight people among those who face increased risk regarding COVID-19. As many states have expanded their eligibility, they have followed CDC guidelines on BMI as a general way to classify people as whether or not they are at risk because of their size.
Sabrina Strings, associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Irvine and author of “Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia,” called BMI an ineffective and offensive way to expand vaccine eligibility and said: between negative results and race. “
Strings believes that the vaccines should have been prioritized for groups based on race because the coronavirus disproportionately affects people of color. This is supported by data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project, which shows black people have died from the coronavirus at a rate 1.4 times that of whites.
But the use of obesity to expand vaccine eligibility follows reports that obesity is a major contributor to COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
For example, the World Obesity Federation found that 88% of deaths from COVID-19 occurred in countries where the majority of the population was considered overweight or obese. And a study done last month by Tufts University found that 30.2% of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States were due to obesity as a major cardio-metabolic risk factor. Other factors considered in the study included diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure. When combined, the four factors have been estimated to be linked to more than two-thirds of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States.
Strings, however, says there is no evidence obesity is a direct cause of increased deaths or hospitalizations.
“When we look at these studies, what they show are correlations,” she said. “They always try to give the impression that BMI is the cause of these negative health effects. But that’s not the information that statistics, especially cross-sectional data, can provide. can show that relationships. “
Emma Specter, who qualified for the vaccine based on her BMI, wrote about the fatphobia and fat shame surrounding using the metric to expand vaccine eligibility.
She said she initially spent time debating whether or not to get the vaccine, as she believed it might take one away from someone else who needs it more, or a frontline worker.
“Once I was told that this really isn’t how it works, I can’t, you know, point a vaccine at someone else, it’s code-based. postal and co-morbidities. Well, once I learned that, I sort of didn’t hesitate a lot, ”she said.
Farmer and Specter have both advocated for the others to be vaccinated, regardless of their skill level.
“I think if you are lucky enough to get it, you should definitely get it not only to protect yourself, but also to protect others around you. What if that means you have to look like obesity or fat by the company, so OK, well, now you get the vaccine, “Farmer said.” If you’re discouraged by the obesity label, I would just say that obviously don’t tie that to your self-esteem. “
Specter said that in choosing to be vaccinated, she had to understand herself and identify as an obese person. She explained that many of those who qualified by the metric struggled with shame and embarrassment because of how society has characterized obese people.
“I think to be honest we cited that as a bad thing to be. And we cited fat people as lazy and unworthy and unhealthy and so many other things that it’s really difficult,” Specter said. “As someone much smarter than me, whom I can’t remember at the moment, said,“ you don’t have to prove a certain level of work. You don’t have to prove exceptional character. You don’t have to prove it. that you only eat salads. ‘”
[ad_2]
Source link