I was scrolling through reddit today and came across this post saying I have “fatphobic tendencies”. This was really hard for me to read and caused me to take a critical look back at my previous comments regarding obesity, bariatric treatments, and diet recommendations (Keto, intermittent fasting, vegan, etc.) Our culture demonizes people for their weight, from rogue marketing pushing “ideal bodies” in media to a lack of representation for large bodied people on stage and on screen. That being said, I am a doctor, and my job is to help people live longer, healthier lives, and often those results can be achieved through a variety of tactics that will reduce the weight of people who suffer from obesity. It’s a fine line between helping my patients and making sure they don’t feel judged or criticized for the way they look, and I’m working hard to get it right.