It was the Instagram comment you couldn’t help but cringe at. Barbra Streisand wrote on a recent Melissa McCarthy Instagram post, “Give her my regards, have you taken Ozempic?”
Questions may have been swirling in your mind: Is this a mistake? Is this a genuine question? Is it insensitive? Is it okay to ask someone if they are taking weight loss medications like Ozempic? The two stars have since spoken out.
“OMG – I went on Instagram to see the photos we had uploaded of the beautiful flowers I had received for my birthday! Below was a photo of my friend Melissa McCarthy who I sang with on my Encore album. She looked amazing ! ” Steisandwrote to X on Tuesday. “I just wanted to pay him a compliment. I forgot the world reads!” McCarthy followed up in an Instagram video: “The takeaway: Barbra Streisand knows I exist, she reached out to me and thought I looked good! I win the day.”
Still, experts say those curious about a person’s weight loss, no matter how well-intentioned, should tread carefully and, in some cases, not ask at all.
“Talking about appearance and asking questions about someone’s weight has become so normalized in our society that we don’t even think about the effects they have on the person asking,” says Elizabet Altunkara, director of education of the National Eating Disorders Association. “Asking about someone’s weight or making comments about their appearance perpetuates toxic diet culture and can harm people with body image issues, eating disorders or eating disorders.”
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“Medical problems are private”
You are not a bad person if you want to know how someone loses weight. It’s common to ask, “partly out of curiosity, and partly because others might want to follow their lead and get some weight-loss advice,” says Deborah Carr, director of Boston University’s Center for Social Science Innovation. and professor of sociology. “In this case, though, Melissa wasn’t posting about her weight loss; she was sharing a photo of herself in a beautiful cake dress, on her way to honor her friend at a gala.” The focus on McCarthy’s body reflects a wider social problem, where people, especially women, with fuller figures get attention for that more than anything else.
“It’s always inappropriate to ask someone whether or not they’re taking medication to treat obesity,” says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medical scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “We never ask patients if they are taking medication to treat depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, and the list goes on. We think it’s up to us to ask people whether or not there are medications to treat obesity because obesity is a disease what to wear”.
Keep in mind, too, “that someone’s medical problems are private and should not be discussed publicly or privately,” adds Dr. Melanie Jay, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Health.
Asking about Ozempic specifically could be seen as judgmental. “There is a widespread and problematic belief that those with larger body sizes lack self-control or discipline and overeat,” adds Carr. “The flip side is that people who lose weight with medication rather than diet or exercise are believed to be ‘taking shortcuts’ and not doing the work.”
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How to talk about Ozempic, weight loss
Carr recommends that people stop judging other people’s bodies and how they lost weight. But if you want to ask someone about their journey, give them some context: “Maybe you mentioned they were interested in losing weight, and we thought they might have some advice given their recent weight loss. It’s also important to ask about the their other health. tips they can surely have so they don’t reduce a person’s existence to the sole indicator of their body weight.”
Jay suggests saving these conversations for close friends or family members who are open to sharing information about weight loss medications. Cody Stanford adds, “Unless someone tells you this information directly, it’s really none of our business. If someone is curious about weight management strategies and wants to ask a friend or family member, you might consider reaching out with your Can you explain how you have struggled and would like to learn more about what strategies could be adopted to address the chronic disease of obesity.”
And remember to check before posting anything online.
Contributor: KiMI Robinson
#talking #weight #loss #Ozempic
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