Obama’s Surgeon General Regina Benjamin Overweight Controversy
Dr. Regina Benjamin, President Obama’s nominee for surgeon general, is receiving quite a bit of bad publicity because of her weight. The curvy 52-year-old, who has been nominated to be the public face of the United States’ healthcare program, has been slammed by bloggers after pictures of her (and her chubby cheeks) circulated across the Internet.
Benjamin, however, is not short of supporters. Bloggers and organizations (like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance) alike have rallied to her defence. A blogger on Frisky.com said:
“The job of surgeon general is to make health care and policy decisions for the country – not to look hot in a pair of skinny jeans. Perhaps her size could actually be an advantage – she’s in a better position to understand obesity and contemplate out-of-the-box ways to roll back ever-expanding American waistlines.”
But seeing that no one knows her real weight, or even if she is in fact overweight, all this speculation may be premature. Dr. Marcia Angell, a physician, senior lecturer at Harvard University Medical School and the first female editor-in-chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, agrees.
“We don’t know how much she weighs and just looking at her I would not say she is grotesquely obese or even overweight enough to affect her health,” she told ABCNews.com. “But I do think at a time when a lot of public health concern is about the national epidemic of obesity, having a surgeon general who is noticeably overweight raises questions in people’s minds.”
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