Tag: Obesity

How Calorie Labelling Impacts People with Binge Eating Disorder

~ Julie de Rohan ~ 6 Comments

Trigger warning: description of binge eating.

A few nights ago, I went out for dinner for the first time since lockdown lifted here in the UK.

After months of being stuck at home, I sat in the restaurant with a big grin on my face, soaking up the atmosphere.

I was quite hungry but, as usual, took my time exploring the menu. Like a buzzard circling its prey, I was on the lookout for the dish that would truly satisfy me.

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Twitter & Other News

A blank page on a typewriter on which the words eatonomy news appear.
~ Julie de Rohan ~ 40 Comments

Anyone who follows me on Instagram will know I’m not great at posting regularly on social media (I take my hat off to anyone who does – I just can’t seem to find the time!).

Nevertheless, that hasn’t deterred me from opening a Twitter account.

So please come and join me on Twitter – I’m sure you’ll inspire me to be less inept at social media (although I’m not promising anything).

Also, I’ve been published in the Eastern Daily Press this week. The EDP printed a version of my most recent blog post on Tuesday. The online article has been posted today and you can read it here:

“Why the Government is Getting It Wrong on Obesity and Coronavirus”.

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Why the UK Government is Getting it Wrong on Obesity

~ Julie de Rohan ~ 24 Comments

The Guardian recently reported the UK Government is planning to launch an “emergency drive” to reduce obesity rates in anticipation of a second Covid-19 wave later this year.

There’s concern Coronavirus disproportionately affects overweight and obese people. According to the article, the Government programme will be “based on encouraging people to reduce their calorific intake and lose weight rapidly”.

If accurate, the UK Government is acting on a dangerously incorrect assumption – that obesity is purely a physiological, rather than a psychological, issue.

It’s a mistake that’s made often.

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Expert Insight: The Self-Care Gender Gap

~ Julie de Rohan ~ 26 Comments

“One gender-related theme that stood out was related to caretaking. Every woman in the study, but none of the men, reported putting others before themselves…

Tina was a compulsive eater who used food as a way to practise self-care. During the second interview, she began to realise how taking care of others led her to eat: “I had no down time. I had no time for myself and I think I was using food more than I had been to take the edge off and medicate myself, reward myself, treat myself”.

– Patricia Goodspeed Grant, “Social and Emotional Origins of Comfort Eating”

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Why Must Fat Shaming Stop?

~ Julie de Rohan ~ 49 Comments

“A final message Ellen wanted to share was about the fat shaming she endured from the medical profession. Over the past few years of feeling unwell she sought out medical intervention and no one offered any support or suggestions beyond weight loss. Ellen’s dying wish was that women of size make her death matter by advocating strongly for their health and not accepting that fat is the only relevant health issue.”

This is an excerpt from the obituary of Ellen Bennett who died on May 11th this year, aged 64. Shortly before, Ellen had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer and was given just a few days to live. According to her family, she was “an unforgettable character” who enjoyed careers in politics, film and TV.

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