What does my size mean about my health?
There is a problem we are all facing in society today, that is equaling the intensity of racism and gender inequality. What is that problem, you ask? Fat shaming.
I will not stop spreading the true message about body image until the truth becomes the norm, the message we are fed today all around us is incredibly distorted, for reasons people don't even understand.
Everyone should give this a read.
“‘Overweight’ people live longer than ‘’normal weight people.’ (In the year 2000, there were 86,000 fewer deaths in the overweight category relative to what was expected of people were in the normal range.)”
“The study found slightly more total annual US deaths in the ‘underweight’ category than in the two heaviest categories (‘overweight’ and ‘obese’), suggesting a stronger case for shifting public health attention to the dangers of thinner weights. The CDC didn’t just overhype a crisis, they helped invent it...we don’t have an obesity/overweight epidemic; our epidemic is one of fearmongering and ignorance. “
Health At Every Size, 124-125
“[from study of 170,000] they found the difference between actual weight and perceived ideal weight was a better indicator of mental and physical health than BMI...feeling fat has stronger health effects than [BMI].” HAES 131
The societal problem is the stigma, the dieting, the disordered eating behaviors, and the constant weight cycling. Not the weight itself. The weight is not an epidemic, the shame is.
How sad is that? The world has created such an intense shame around our bodies, that the way people are being treated, and the messages we are sending, are causing physical impediments to health. It manifests itself as mental health problems, overwhelming stress that causes physical damage, and harmful weight cycling, or chronic disordered eating behaviors.
I can’t put all the research into one blog post, but I’ll give you as much as you need to prove to you that fat/BMI does not indicate overall health! It’s not about the fat!!!
So what is it about? What are we afraid of? Weight loss marketing is instrumental in our economy, for starters.
And, the culture is so entrenched in the diet mentality that people with good intentions truly believe that weight indicates health.
We are afraid to let go of old ways of thinking, because the new ways scare us - we aren't used to them. We have been told one thing for so long that we are afraid to believe that something different might be true, when the subject of it is health. Yet, we have only been hurting the health of those we have been trying to "help," by telling them to lose weight.
Rest assured - the new ways are science based, effective, and can lead to true peace with yourself. The new ways are just discovering that the old ways have been false and not working. The truth is that there is a way for Health at Every Size. And that health is achieved for someone in a larger body, in the same way it is achieved for someone in a smaller body. It's not about the fat. It's about how we treat ourselves - and if the heart of what you are doing is to lose weight, then we are not treating ourselves, or our bodies, with respect.
For comments or questions, feel free to email me.
The research cited comes from the book Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. I highly recommend the read to anyone trying to heal from their relationship with food and weight.
