The newspaper ad inviting fat people to learn about El Camino Hospital's new weight-loss surgery program held out the opportunity to be not just a thinner person, but a better one.
"It's not what you have to lose," the Mountain View, Calif., hospital ad said. "It's what you have to gain. Pride. Dignity. And Better Health."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday February 21, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 85 words Type of Material: Correction
Diabetes rate -- In an article about obesity in Section A on Thursday, a quote by Roland Sturm, a health economist at the Rand Corp., did not fully reflect Sturm's research on obesity and diabetes. Sturm was quoted as saying that people in their 40s who are 100 pounds overweight will get diabetes. In fact, Sturm has found that about 45% of people with that body mass will get diabetes by the time they reach age 65, compared with 7% of those of normal weight.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday February 27, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 93 words Type of Material: Correction
Diabetes rate -- A correction on an article about obesity in Section A on Feb. 19 said that a quotation by Roland Sturm, a health economist at the Rand Corp., "did not fully reflect Sturm's research on obesity and diabetes." The correction should have said that the quotation did not accurately reflect his research. The original quotation in the article had been that someone who is 40 years old and 100 pounds overweight will get diabetes. Sturm's research shows that about 45% of such people will be diagnosed with diabetes by age 65.
Marilyn Wann, 5-feet-5, 270 pounds and darn proud of it, scanned the ad and fumed: How dare they imply that fat people are not proud, or that dignity is reserved for the thin? Wann threw down the newspaper. Then she smiled and began to e-mail her friends.
At the hospital's weight-loss surgery workshop in October, Wann and a handful of others blended into the crowd, most of them at least 100 pounds heavier than doctors say they should be. They listened to the surgeons -- then Wann blew a whistle.
The infiltrators jumped up, whipped off their clothes and, clad only in bathing suits (Wann in a pink two-piece), danced through the stunned audience with the words "Fat+Pride" and "Fat+Dignity" marked on their stomachs.
The pro-fat parade may not have swayed many at the workshop. But it was an ample demonstration that activists in the fat acceptance movement, as it is sometimes known, were galvanizing against a medical procedure they consider dangerous and demeaning.
Doctors agree that weight-loss -- or bariatric -- surgeries involve risks, but also argue that for now they are the most effective way for extremely obese people to shed pounds over the long term. The most common type of bariatric surgery is the gastric bypass, in which the stomach is sectioned off, leaving a small pouch at the top that severely limits food intake.
The American Society of Bariatric Surgeons estimates that 103,200 weight-loss surgeries were performed in 2003 and that the number will swell to 144,000 this year.
The surgery is recommended only for people who are at least 100 pounds overweight. Afterward, patients are warned to limit their food intake and to exercise regularly for the rest of their lives.
Many patients are lured to the surgical solution by celebrity success stories, dramatic before-and-after pictures, and promises of small scars -- instead of the Frankenstein weals of the 1970s and '80s. Demand is so great that the wait at some hospitals is a year or more.
General surgeons are diving into the business of weight loss: The bariatric surgeons association grew 39% from 2001 to 2002 and 43% from 2002 to 2003.
