(Several studies have already established that when a doctor tells a patient that he or she will or even may get some illness or chronic condition, the patient is a lot more likely to get this illness or condition.)
When FatLand doctors and medical personnel were discussing resources to allot to certain conditions experienced more often by fat people on the OtherSide/USA, they budgeted with the help of the Board and added beds and sections as well.
Thus they were astounded when no more than a third of the beds allotted for these conditions were filled. The conditions: diabetes, arthritis, knee problems, hip problems, back problems, heart conditions of all kinds, lung problems. Other conditions which on the OtherSide/USA necessitated outpatient care: High cholesterol, high blood pressure, certain cancers, thrombosis, conditions associated with pregnancy.
What happened? the doctors asked themselves.
It took about a month for them to ascertain that FatLanders, not having been told constantly that they were in danger of developing the illnesses and conditions mentioned above, and many others, simply had not developed them. Also, there were/was no negative background talk, no body shaming, no anti-fat bigotry, no food shaming, no embarrassment, no implications of wrongness or otherness.
And even more astounding was the fact that FatLanders who had experienced these illnesses and conditions on the OtherSide/USA shucked them off to the tune of a 95 percent improvement when they had lived
in FatLand anywhere from 2 years to 10 years.
"Let it grow...let it grow...greatly yield!" (Grateful Dead, Weather Report Suite: Let It Grow)
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