First and foremost, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. I do not hate fat people. I would never judge someone’s character on their body shape. Fat people can contribute just as much to society as any other person on the planet. Just as a smoker can have an equally positive impact on the world as a non-smoker.
The fat acceptance movement has a lot of merit behind it. It strives to stop discrimination of people of different body shapes. It battles against bullying. It can help build the self-esteem of people who are heavier than average. These are all positive attributes, but this movement has begun to spawn potentially dangerous attitudes towards obesity. First, that being obese is healthy, and second, that people who are obese cannot change their body.
The idea that being obese is just as healthy as having a healthy body mass index is simply not true. The links between obesity and heart disease are real and are not going to go away despite any changes society has towards these individuals. It really is that simple.
Obese people can lose weight and can keep it off. Thermodynamics applies to our bodies the same way that it applies to everything else in our universe. Energy output vs energy input. If a person’s calorie expenditure exceeds their calorie intake, they WILL lose weight. Regardless of how much they weigh.
If someone is fat, and they are comfortable with it, then that’s fantastic. More power to them. But don’t try to tell me that it’s healthy. It’s like a smoker telling me that even though their habits are different than mine, they’re just as healthy. It simply isn’t true.
I want to reiterate the fact that the fat acceptance movement has potential to be beneficial. However, there are certain truths that need to be accepted. People need to accept the fact that being obese is not healthy and that obese people are perfectly capable of losing weight and keeping it off.
All the best to all body shapes!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_acceptance_movement
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2001.138/full
Wondergressive 