Let’s talk about obesity
****NOTE:****
I am no longer accepting comments along the lines of, “But being fat isn’t healthy…” You need to prove that you have not only read my post, but looked at the citations I have provided, or have an iota of critical thinking skills. That way, I’ll know that you aren’t making the same tired, ignorant counter argument over
and over
and over
and over
and over again.
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I’ve written briefly on the subject before, but I would like to expand, especially to include some scientific research. I know that, ironically, studies show that people are not swayed by logical analysis as much as they are swayed by sensationalism, especially when said sensationalism re-enforces their current beliefs. But I would like to see if perhaps I could sway some people anyway.
I have been interested in the subjects of eating disorders and obesity for most of my life. This interest began due to my mother’s influence; she is an expert in the fields of eating disorders (especially binge-eating disorder), obesity, and early childhood trauma. I think it would be dishonest for anybody to claim that their interest in a scientific subject was not in some way influenced by personal experiences. However, I did my own research as well. My citations have all been sourced by me, aside from this one, which underlines some of my concerns much better than I have (I didn’t read it until after I wrote this post).
This post is mostly based on my response to a comment on the other post I liked to.
What does fat have to do with health?
Short version: Not very much at all.
Health scientists unfortunately use a way of measuring health (the Body Mass Index) that is so archaic and unreliable, that results are paradoxical. Many studies are concluding, based on the BMI, that overweight and obese people are healthier than normal weight people; that severely obese people have the same mortality as normal weight people; or that underweight people have the highest mortality overall, including when it comes to cardiovascular health. That is exactly what this meta-study, which comprised 40 studies on over 250,000 people, concluded. They also concluded that the BMI was unreliable.
So how does the fat stigma regarding health affect fat people? Some people, like my commenter, see no connection between insisting that fat people are unhealthy and treating them with respect. However, this is patently false, especially in healthcare. The fact is, fat people are treated horribly by doctors based on the asssumption that fat is unhealthy. There has also been at least one study on physicians’ treatment of fat people. When fat is equated with health, fat people are treated as inherently unhealthy. This is untrue. Simple as that.
I do not believe that unhealthy people should be treated with any less respect than healthy people. That’s known as ableism. Ableism is a horrible problem. You can see it in the healthcare debate in the US – so many people are saying that they don’t want their hard-earned tax dollars going towards helping obese people who “can’t help themselves.” Of course, their tax dollars aren’t actually involved, and as we now know, fat people aren’t necessarily unhealthy. But ableism is rampant in the US and other countries, and it needs to be stopped. I think this has a lot to do with the Social Darwinistic principles underlying industrial culture.
When it comes to doctors, they need to focus on health. They do not need to focus on fat at all. That’s where Health at Every Size comes in. If a fat person has a poor diet that lacks essential nutrients, they need to be treated like a skinny person with the same problems. And we should all know that skinny people are equally likely to have poor diets (lord knows I have one).
Genetics
Part of the argument for fat-phobia is that fat is mostly an environmental factor. I think this is a ridiculous argument, since it shouldn’t matter if it’s environmental or not – first of all, fat is not a health concern, and second of all, “environmental” does not translate to “voluntary,” as so many poorly-informed people seem to think it does. However, when it comes to the genetic factor, you can look at many peer-reviewed studies, including ones cited in this editorial. Genetics are not a “slight” influence; they are very significant.
Respect
I think most decent human beings would agree that other human beings should be treated with respect, assuming that they haven’t harmed you. Yet I see so many people with this view treating fat people as sub-human. Words like “disgusting,” “gross,” “ugly,” “blob,” and many others are commonly used to describe other people who have done no harm. We need to be much more concerned about language than we are. It can affect people very strongly, and can even reinforce harmful, self-destructive habits. We are all responsible for how we treat people, and how those people respond to our treatment. What exactly is the purpose of shaming fat people? Does anybody honestly think that it will “encourage” them to get thinner? That kind of mindset lacks a very fundamental understanding of human psychology.
I will say it again: The “obesity epidemic” isn’t a real thing. It is a combination of poor research, unreliable indices, horrible statistics, and scare tactics. Weight-loss diets do not work.
****Please read my Comments Policy before commenting****
~ by owlcat on 12 August, 2012.
Posted in Bullshit Review, Social Environmentalist
Tags: fat phobia, feminism, food, obesity
ahem. I little credit here might be due please?
Sorry, I actually hadn’t read your specific article before. I can put it in as a reference. I was debating whether or not to talk about the reasons I am so interested in and educated about the subject due to the fact that some people might right me off as “less objective,” but I think that people like that would be dishonest anyway.
I think this is unrealistic (even though it is technically what we do with cigarettes but I digress)- though I would comment to the person who said let them eat fat food in a darwin type way, unfortunately this type of thinking completely ignores the cost that unhealthy individuals pose to our health care systems etc. We – or those of us that choose a healthy lifestyle – ultimately pay for their bad choices with our tax dollars AND end up paying again if we need medical attention because we get stuck waiting for care or lost in a sea of unhealthy individuals in a overburdened health care system.
1) In the US, your tax dollars are not going towards taking care of unhealthy people. They are, however, going towards killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people. In other countries, very few of your tax dollars are involved. The way that a universal health system works is that everybody pitches in. I’m sorry that you think that some people don’t deserve to live or be healthy, but the vast majority of health issues are not based on choice. Even environmental factors are usually not optional. You grow up in an unhealthy environment, and you are unhealthy. It is horribly ableist to whine about your “tax dollars” going towards saving lives.
2) None of this, however, has to do with fat, as you would know if you READ MY F***ING POST and the citations along with it. Are you fat-phobes so blind that you’ll get on a blog just to make stupid arguments without even reading past the first sentence of my post?
3) No healthcare system is overburdened unless the disgustingly wealthy aren’t paying their dues. It really doesn’t take much to get rid of the burden. But yes, let’s always blame the people who need healthcare instead of the real parasites in this world.
Being overweight puts you at risk of diabetes. The best way to control that is weight down, exercise up, as the doc will tell you. Cholesterol is more to do with diet but if you are eating fatty foods and not burning it, you will get fat. There’s also the extra weight the body is carrying around putting stress on the joints, and shovelling extra food in wears out the guts faster. Not to mention, being fat isn’t so physically attractive, and the self esteem will take a knock. I think there are just so many good reasons to keep the fat off, and I don’t really think it’s a good idea to get everyone thinking it’s OK to be fat.
Show me a study that uses a proven index (not the BMI), that says that being “overweight” puts you at a higher overall mortality risk than being “normal weight.” I am not interested in individual diseases, since that does not tell you the probability that an overweight person will not have a happy, healthy life. The overall mortality does. If the diseases from being “overweight” equal those from being “normal weight,” then there is nothing more unhealthy about being “overweight.” Also, the study would have to control for people who are not overweight or underweight BECAUSE of an already existing disease, because that would reverse the causation.
Doctors are basing this assumption on studies using the BMI, and therefore this information is useless. Plus, they are obviously swayed by a very aggressive diet industry.
Please check out the new studies that show that blood cholesterol level has nothing to do with food cholesterol intake. This is a perfect example of the “common sense” argument: Instead of doing a scientific study, you base your assumptions on what you already know: Increased adipose tissue makes you fat, and some people eat more fat than others. But you cannot link the two unless you have done several controlled studies that link the two.
Once again, scientific evidence, please. Not using the BMI. This is another “common sense” argument. I have already explained in my post why the BMI is utter rubbish. One can assume that excess weight is bad for the joints, but then that would mean that excess muscle would be even worse, since muscle weighs more than fat. Also, increased weight decreases risk of osteoporosis, so, using the same “common sense” argument, you could conclude that fat people are at lest risk of osteoporosis. That’s why you don’t go around hypothesising without controlled research!
Wow. You have just proven yourself to be completely brainwashed, and not on the side of science at all. You think that the mainstream dislike of fat people is an inherent, biological trait? Then why are there cultures all over the world that revere fat people and find them extra beautiful? Of course fat people in our culture will have self-esteem problems. That’s because PEOPLE LIKE YOU say some of the most ignorant stuff I have ever heard.
No, there aren’t. There are many good reasons for a healthy diet and exercise. That’s where the HAES movement comes in. Check it out in the link in my post.
This shows a complete lack of a basic understanding of human psychology. You think, when it comes to people who overeat, that shaming them for being fat will help them lose weight? No. Research shows that over-eaters eat MORE when their self-esteem is hurt. It may sound counter-productive, but a lot of things about the human mind are counter-productive. You want people who could actually could have some control over their weight to start taking control? Then accept them for who they are, and help bring them out of their depression. Depressed people do not eat right, and they do not exercise. Anybody who has ever been in a slump can tell you this.
Excess fat is excess weight on the joints, extra muscle builds up around the joints and helps protect them from damage. Of course you could still injure yourself from doing the exercise I guess. Ha ha.
As for the digestive system, overeating can cause acid reflux, which if it goes on long enough, can damage the esophagus.
As for physical attraction, fat may be attractive in cold climates and ice ages, which this is not.
By saying I wouldn’t encourage people to think fat is OK, doesn’t mean I am shaming them does it. With the modern lifestyle it is too easy for normally not-fat people to sit around & eat and get fat, then come the associated health problems. Advising against these habits doesn’t mean you have to “shame”. You are really just projecting there.
I don’t have any scientific articles, just my own experience with being overweight and the advice I have been given and sought. I can tell you it is not wise to get overweight and stay that way. I don’t believe the doc is swayed by the diet industry, they will happily give you drugs to “fix” some of these things, but if lifestyle and overeating is the problem, isn’t changing that a better approach?
As I explained to a commenter before, experience is known as anecdotal evidence. It is very poor evidence when it comes to science, and should not be used, because it is dangerous. Some mothers of autistic children will claim, based on experience, that the MMR vaccine caused their child’s autism, and campaign to get rid of vaccines. Ignorance is VERY dangerous, and this is a form of it.
I suggest you learn critical thinking – it is a skill that can come in handy in many situations. Over-eating is problematic, yes, but over-eating is not synonymous with obesity. It is problematic because you are eating way past your hunger; you are ignoring your body’s own signs. Many overweight and obese people eat until they’re full, then stop.
Yes, you are shaming people. When you say something like, “I wouldn’t encourage people to think fat is OK,” you are suggesting it isn’t. Even if it was unhealthy to be fat, does that mean it’s not okay? It’s not up to you to say such things. It’s a doctor’s job to say what’s unhealthy in an individual, and I would really hope that would be based on individual lifestyle rather than simply their weight – which is exactly what Health at Every Size is about. You don’t tell people on the internet every chance you get that they’re being unhealthy, because 1) you simply cannot know when somebody is being healthy or not and 2) it is none of your damn business. Same with fat people. It is not your job, and it is detrimental, to go around saying that being fat isn’t okay, or that it is unhealthy since that is not true and none of your business. If that person’s doctor wants to tell them that they aren’t getting the nutrition or exercise they need, that’s fine. But you are nobody’s doctor, and you don’t know somebody’s health without understanding their individual case.
Another example of shaming: “…Normally non-fat people…sit around and eat and get fat.” That it utter nonsense. You are buying into the “fat = lazy” stereotype and it is simply untrue. You are shaming fat people by saying they are lazy. Stop it.
It is not wise to eat a poor diet, get poor exercise, get too little sleep, work 40+ hours/week until you’re 65, drive a car, etc., but some of these things are more under individual control than others, and it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS what people do with their lives if they are not hurting anybody else. As for becoming “overweight” and staying that way – please, define “overweight” for me, and cite valid scientific research that says that staying that way, in itself, with a healthy lifestyle, is a problem. Overweight and obese people can have healthy lifestyles too (shocker!) They can eat healthy, exercise, and be more fit than me, even though I’m skinny. I have poor diet and exercise, but I don’t see anybody, even my doctor, policing me about how it’s “not okay,” how lazy I am, or how unattractive I am.
Cold climates? Really? Do you know anything about other cultures? Up until a couple hundred years ago, fat women even in our own culture were considered beautiful. That changed, coincidentally, when the diet industry started gaining power.
You are right in saying that are not necessarily swayed by logical analysis. However, shaming and stigmatizing fat people will do nothing to positively affect the health of the populace. Three 2011 studies confirm these facts.
The study Obesity in the News: Do Photographic Images of Obese Persons Influence Antifat Attitudes? indicated that participants who viewed the negative photographs expressed more negative attitudes toward obese people than did those who viewed the positive photographs. Implications of these findings for the media are discussed, with emphasis on increasing awareness of weight bias in health communication and journalistic news reporting.
The study Weight Stigma: Health Implications relates that weight stigma:
• Compromises psychological well-being
• Is NOT an effective motivator for lifestyle changes
• Affects healthcare
The study The Stigmas of Obesity: Does Perceived Weight Discrimination Affect Identity and Physical Health? reveals that perceived weight discrimination is found to be harmful, increasing the health risks of obesity associated with functional disability and, to a lesser degree, self-rated health.
Cool, these are the types of studies I was referring to in my response to the comment before you. Just confused about your use of the word “however.”
Well you are projecting once again. Of course I don’t go around telling other people they’re fat. I don’t really accept that fat people are being shamed when healthy lifestyles are promoted. Sure, a fat person can be fitter than you, but they are still at risk from other health issues like diabetes (in which case they would want to be on some diet anyway and watching the carbs). And I don’t think I am shaming people when I say that modern lifestyles simply promote people to sit around and eat and get fat. You just have to suck it up at some point. But since you mentioned it, it IS lazy, either because they don’t want to get the exercise, or because they don’t want to control the food intake. But they’re in good company.
As for physical attractiveness, I guess I am relying purely on my own judgement of “beauty” then. I presume you’ll tell me that I have been warped by the supermodels and TV which women are victims of and blah blah blah. I don’t buy into either extreme. As for other cultures where you say fat is beautiful, I wonder about the life expectancy? Yes, when resources were scarce in past times (such as during an ice age), a fat woman was regarded a desirable mate. This is not the case in the western countries today where we are not short of resources.
Do you have pets? Same deal. If you overfeed them and they get all round and fat, they’ll end up with health problems too.
I do think critically, and I don’t buy into the fat is OK message, sorry. I’m afraid that this is an “intellectual” excuse to avoid doing anything about it. Instead of looking after themselves, they would rather tell everyone that being fat is right, which I think is irresponsible.
You appear to not even understand the definition of critical thinking. You cannot be a critical thinker without looking at the science with a critical eye. It is not possible.
There is nothing more for me to say to you. I can tell you that you are obviously being brainwashed – but I can say that to somebody who believes in fairies, and it will probably still have the same effect. So have fun believing in fairies, as there is nothing more I can do for you. I just really hope that you don’t rattle off your ignorance every chance you get, because it is very destructive. You’re just wasting space on my blog now.
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Ohio Obese Citizens: Don’t run around in short-shorts! | losing the last 40 pounds said this on 19 August, 2012 at 8:40 pm |