Alum honored with award for recognizing weight bias and stigma
Posted: August 31, 2015
“Weight bias is one of the only remaining areas of discrimination where social norms currently say it is okay,” said Dr. Puckett. “So many people continue to think of weight as a motivation, commitment, or just plain lazy issue, and that isn’t true at all. Science has proven, in so many ways, how obesity is not a choice, not simply a result of a noncompliant patient. We have identified hundreds of different biochemical pathways, hundreds of genetic and epigenetic factors, environmental issues, immune and endocrine defects, gut microbiome abnormalities, and yes, neurobehavioral issues.”
As a weight loss patient himself, Dr. Puckett has personally experienced bias and understands how damaging and hurtful it can be. This has encouraged him to address weight bias and stigma within the most biased of all professions: healthcare. As an international speaker to medical groups, physicians, and a variety of other groups, he has educated on the multifactorial aspect of obesity, the realities of bias, and how to step away from such behavior. He has also worked closely with the OAC, a patient advocacy group, to work on bias at a larger level by striving to eliminate weight bias in the media, on television, and various other venues.
The OAC was formed to unify the voice of the individual affected by obesity. Before the OAC’s existence, there was not an organization that brought together individuals with obesity and/or those concerned with the cause, despite the fact that obesity is one of the fastest growing epidemics of our time. Today, the OAC is proud to stand as the nation’s leading national non-profit organization, with a growing membership of 50,000 whose sole focus is to help individuals with obesity through education, advocacy and support.
Dr. Puckett is board certified in osteopathic family medicine, osteopathic manipulation, and obesity medicine.