Clarissa G. Barnes, Frederick L. Brancati, MD, MHS, and Tiffany L. Gary, PhD, MHS
To combat the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes, New York City requires laboratories with electronic reporting capacity to upload data on hemoglobin A1c measurements to a city department of health registry.
Underlying ideological foundations of stigma and equipment inadequacy include thin-centrism and inadequate representation of fat people in health care organizational leadership.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(7):E528-534. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.528.
A physician points to AMA policy to argue that necessary medical, public health, and financial support can be developed for the treatment of obesity even if it is not formally classified as a disease.
The author argues that long-term trends point to a future for physician assistants and nurse practitioners as the principal front-line deliverers of primary care, with physicians focusing on managerial duties and specialty care.
The rationale for policy intervention to reduce obesity rates appears compelling. Justification for intervening in the case of children is particularly strong, and precedent suggests that society will more readily accept appropriate restrictions to youth behavior.