Peace, Please: New Reports Blame Obese Individuals for All that Ails Us (and what that says about us)
The New York Times has been covering the social stigmatization of weight recently. Gina Kolata reported in an October Week in Review (their weekly OpEd section), that there is an ever- louder beat of the drum from researchers (and of course amplified by the media), blaming obese individuals for everything from higher gas prices to global warming. There was another piece more recently on the growth of fat-discrimination as a college study topic.
In essence, Kolata’s piece notes that social stigmatization of overweight is at an all-time high. But, while the great tide of disapproval helped stem other unhealthy behaviors like smoking or drinking, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way with our most ubiquitous coping mechanisms: comfort food and inactivity. All that self-loathing and fear of weight just makes us gain more.
Evidence mounts that it’s the healthy behaviors (being physically active and following a healthy diet) that determine health to a greater extent than the number on the scale. Remember that CDC report that noted that people slightly overweight lived longer? So, a thin person who under eats or overexercises is less healthy than an overweight individual following a healthy lifestyle.
But does that help us to exhale around accepting our body size? No! Why?
I think that food and fashion industries have just been wildly successful at sending messages to shape the culture and ensure our insecurity. An unhappy person is a great consumer, after all. Want to see what I mean? take a look at some of the ads on www.about-face.org. To learn more about this topic and connect with others around it, check out the International Association of Size Acceptance. The have lots of downloads, reviews of the science around size acceptance, pod casts and links. Just tons of great information.
I think the way out of the hatred and stigmatization of weight is simple education. Kids now really need media literacy in order to become conscious of what they can do to live healthy lives today. And for adults, I think there is more support to renounce the unhealthy aspects of our culture - look at the popularity of yoga! Yoga, of course, is a wonderful way of doing the mental work around releasing some of the underlying issues that cause all the suffering around poor body image, and waking up to the truth that each and everyone of us is perfect, and is divine.
Chris Said,
August 20, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
This is very interesting! How true that society (and food/fashion industries) have led us to be more insecure. The more we see the skinny people, and the more obesity is criticized, the more we feel guilty and eat more. But guilt just makes everything worse (with overeating and lots of other issues).
Sometimes I find myself using food for comfort (when I should turn to God instead for comfort and trust HIM!).
I want my children to learn new habits (and not make the same mistakes I have), and we are trying to teach them healthier lifestyle choices. But it is very difficult!
I was also very interested in your post about dairy products. My daughter (age
specifically commented on the pictures of famous people that said how milk helps you LOSE weight (after we had told her not to drink so much milk, that it can be bad for you to drink a lot, which she sometimes does in a day). So, then, we had to try to explain to her why those ads weren’t entirely true (that milk CAN be good for you, when used properly in a healthy diet, but those pictures don’t mean she should drink a half-gallon a day!).
Your book looks very interesting! I love the title and the apple on the cover.
Thanks.
- Chris