Dr Rajeev Kurapati is the medical director of integrative oncology at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Kentucky, USA. Triple-board certified, and specializing in obesity and lifestyle medicine, Rajeev is also the award-winning author of three books—
Unbound Intelligence (2014),
Physician: How Science Transformed the Art of Medicine (2018) and
Burnout in Healthcare (2019)
. His writing has appeared in Slate
, Cincinnati Enquirer, Aging America, Journal of Medical Economics, Mind Body Green, Life Hack and Millennial Magazine.
Have you ever been bullied for being overweight? The reality of being a plus-sized person isn't that every moment of your life is about being plus-sized—it’s that you’re trying to live the same kind of complicated, exciting, fun, beautiful and difficult life as everyone else. The only problem is that at every turn, society says ‘you should apologize for just living in your body’. This antagonistic messaging is pervasive across our media and culture, in ways that are both subtle and blatantly, cruelly overt. As obesity rates skyrocket, so does the shaming of those affected by it. The act of fat-shaming is so deceptive and rife with misinformation that even most healthcare professionals are part of the problem. It’s time to change the conversation.
We assume doctors and medical professionals know it all, and that policymakers in public health have the best interests of society in mind—unfortunately, many of these assumptions are incorrect. The Book of Body Positivity explains why the measures to control the so-called obesity epidemic have failed and offers solutions towards a healthier planetary future. With a penetrating critique of the current practice of medicine, this book is an astute guide to contemporary fragmented science centred around weight and health.
