Anti-obesity medication

Anti-obesity medication or weight loss drugs are all pharmacological agents that reduce or control weight. These drugs alter one of the fundamental processes of the human body, weight regulation, by altering either appetite, or absorption of calories. The main treatment modalities for overweight and obese individuals remain dieting and physical exercise.

In the United States orlistat (Xenical) is currently approved by the FDA for long term use. It reduces intestinal fat absorption by inhibiting pancreatic lipase. Rimonabant (Acomplia), a second drug, works via a specific blockade of the endocannabinoid system. It has been developed from the knowledge that cannabis smokers often experience hunger, which is often referred to as "the munchies". It had been approved in Europe for the treatment of obesity but has not received approval in the United States or Canada due to safety concerns. The European Medicines Agency in October 2008 recommended the suspension of the sale of rimonabant as the risks seem to be greater than the benefits.Sibutramine (Meridia), which acts in the brain to inhibit deactivation of the neurotransmitters, thereby decreasing appetite was withdrawn from the United States and Canadian markets in October 2010 due to cardiovascular concerns.

Anti-fat bias

Anti-fat bias refers to the prejudicial assumption of personality characteristics based on a visual assessment of a person as being obese. Fat activists allege anti-fat bias can be found in many facets of society, and blame the media for the pervasiveness of this phenomenon.

Trait attribution

Anti-fat bias leads people to associate individuals who are overweight or obese with negative personality traits such as "lazy", "greedy", "stupid", "smelly", "slow", or "unmotivated." This bias is not restricted to clinically obese individuals, but also encompasses those whose body shape is in some way found unacceptable according to society's modern standards (although still within the normal or overweight BMI range). It is a classical example of the halo effect in cultures where physical preferences favor low body fat. Fat-shaming is fairly common in America, even though most adult Americans are overweight. Huffington Post wrote "two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Yet overweight and obese individuals are subject to discrimination from employers, healthcare professionals and potential romantic partners".