The Stigma of Being Fat

There was one day when I was in the eighth grade that I was standing in the school cafeteria after classes had ended. There was a group of people near me, some of whom I knew, and some of whom I didn’t. There was one young girl who I recognized from my church, but I had never introduced myself. I walked up to her, did the introduction thing, and her response was a surprisingly confident “Oh yeah! You’re that fat girl so-and-so was telling me about.” I can’t quite remember, but I must have stuttered some small response and then I walked away in my own amazement.

This event happened nearly 18 years ago, yet even now when I think about it the palms of my hands sweat. The memory still upsets me, although I am not angry anymore. I don’t seek revenge. It has made me the forgiving person I am today. In junior high school I was chubby. And I was teased for being chubby. There may have been bigger kids than me, and there may have been kids who were teased more than me. That isn’t important. I am not trying to hang myself on a cross here, I am pretty sure that movie has been made. But my experience of being overweight and vulnerable left an undeniable imprint on my person. As a result, I developed a desire to be empathetic to others, and to look past any outward appearance to who they are inside. I believe that as a result I have become a relatively good judge of character.

Last month DH sent me a link. DH does not send me food related links ever. It is more likely that he will send me a link to an SNL skit. So when I got the email entitled “Pretty Good Article About Childhood Obesity”, I took notice. The article began by describing a series of Georgia billboards in which obese children stand next to print such as “Big bones didn’t make me this way, big meals did.” The effect was almost pornographic. Parents were furious! The Georgia Children’s Health Alliance who created the ads said that they were aimed at parents who needed a wake-up call when it came to their children’s health and weight. A doting parent can easily forgive a few pounds rather than get tough and stop buying junk food. However the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance called for the billboards removal due to the negative stigmatization of overweight and obese children.

The article is excellent, and there are several very thoughtful sound bites included. Please read it in full if you get a chance. But in reading it I was left so confused, conflicted and a little self-hating. On one hand, obese children are likely the most stigmatized group of children out there. Their obesity is in plain sight, there is no hiding from it. And furthermore, the article continues, overweight children are usually left out of the bullying discussion which tends to center on sexual orientation, race and religion among others.

Yet I couldn’t help but stare and blink at a group called the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. I had no idea that such a group even existed. Here I am someone who has felt the verbal barbs of fat-hatred and I could never, under any circumstances, condone harassment. Yet I couldn’t say that I am rushing to exclaim that our obesity problem should just be overlooked so that people don’t feel bad. My thoughts were very jumbled up between what I stand for as a person and what I think is right and what I feel will be viewed negatively by others. And I assume others have jumbled brains too. Consider the difficulty that schools have in even discussing the issue of bullying of overweight children! I believe that people are afraid to broach the subject. It is after all so much easier to discuss food and meal plans. Conflicted is the only word to describe how I was feeling.

According to the NIDDK, a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services, two thirds of the US adult population is overweight or obese. Over one third of the US adult population is obese. Only about 5.7% of the population is considered extremely obese (BMI greater than 40). Obesity rates among the total population remained relatively even until 1980, when they took off. In the early 1990’s another spike is visible. Research remains inconclusive about the reasons for the various spikes.

Obesity is a national epidemic, as is the stigmatization and discrimination of overweight and obese people. And considering the depth of obesity in our nation, it is not just a case of the thin mocking the fat. It is likely that there are discriminators all along the size scale, simply discriminating against those larger than themselves. I agree with the Yahoo article. Being called a nasty name, or being left out of a social situation does nothing to help someone lose weight. It is far more likely that a ridiculed person will continue to gain weight as a result of the stigmatization. So for those who fear eliminating the stigma of being fat sends the message that obesity is perfectly okay, it is likely that negative stigma itself is doing nothing to solve the problem. The discrimination of overweight individuals may actually be exacerbating the problem of obesity.

And it has been proven in study after study, stigmatization and bullying are not an effective motivators for weight loss. In fact, it is believed that bullying increases the likelihood that one will continue to engage in behaviors that increase weight gain, creating an endless cycle. And this type of discrimination is taking place every day. In a fascinating article compiled by the Yale Rudd Center from dozens of different studies, it is estimated a significant portion of the overweight population feels discrimination from bosses, while over half also feel stigma from their co-workers. This is in addition to the numerous studies of doctors who feel inadequate to combat obesity and/ or blame their overweight patients’ lack of motivation. The stigma is endless.

However I also agree that overlooking obesity and accepting it in order that no one ‘feels bad’ doesn’t really help the problem either. In 2009 CBS News reported that about 147 billion dollars were spent each year on obesity and the related illnesses associated with obesity. By comparison, only about 100 billion dollars were spent on all cancers combined. And for the individual, an obese person can expect personal health care costs of approximately 42% (or $1429) higher than their regular weight counterpart. But costs aside, don’t forget that additional health care costs mean that someone is SICK. Despite the economic burden, an obese person can experience a reduced quality of life from chronic pain, joint degradation, fatigue, difficulty breathing, etc as it relates to their obesity. And yet obesity is preventable in most cases. We, as a nation, prevented it rather well until about 1980. So I understand the person who would say that to fully accept fatness is to accept a poor quality of life. And I believe that everyone deserves a better quality of life! It is counterintuitive to fully accept a condition that is brining so many of our countrymen misery.

What I believe we really need to have is a healthy positive food culture in place that supports weight loss and the maintenance of a healthy weight. We place on a pedestal outrageous foods full of fat and sugar and try to counter it with celery sticks and low fat fake foods. Our eating habits are too high and too low. My approach since beginning this blog has been to eliminate most of the highs and lows of my diet. I try to eat a normal healthy diet every day. And while I certainly have celebration foods and will eat some small amounts of refined sugar, I tend to stay away from dishes that seem over the top. The Bacon Explosion comes to mind. How did we ever get to a place where we feel that eating that way is appropriate? The accepted notion that outrageous foods can be balanced in the diet with lower fat, lower calorie options is the hallmark of our sick food culture. And to those who want to exclusively eat these over the top ‘live your life to the fullest’ foods, obesity is certainly waiting around the corner.

With a name like The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, I assumed that their agenda would be to make you accept obesity or ‘fatness’. And accepting obesity to me feels like accepting smoking. However that’s NOT what the NAAFA is. The NAAFA is an organization who wants to end the discrimination of fat people. Their website clearly states, “Fat people are discriminated against in all aspects of daily life, from employment to education to access to public accommodations, and even access to adequate medical care.” And I think most Americans know that this is wrong. Yet we also know that it happens daily. I believe that it is important to fight obesity and not the obese person. NAAFA agrees, as I think we all can.

Though when I began to write this post, along with feeling conflicted, silent is another word that comes to mind. Although I read the thought provoking Yahoo article over a month ago, I didn’t even consider writing a post about it until last week because I considered the topic too controversial. I feared my inability to adequately discuss all the angles of the topic, and I also feared upsetting others. It is likely that are many many people are like I was in the beginning, not wanting to fully reject the stigmatization of being overweight, for fear that it might encourage the problem to grow. But in the end, as I have sorted out my thoughts, my issues are not with the people who are overweight but with the culture that has allowed obesity to become such a problem. Our broken food culture is hurting us. It is making us sick. And it should not be condoned. All the medicine and diet plans in the world won’t help us if we still long to eat foods that make us sick. But the people who have fallen victim to the outcome of our busted up eating culture, they are struggling with enough already. They don’t need any discrimination or additional stigma. It is not helping. It is not right. And it is not American.

Now it is your turn. What do you think? What questions has this post raised for you?

WORKS CITED:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110501/ap_on_re_us/us_obesity_backlash
http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/about/index.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/25/sunday/main5419040.shtml
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/
http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/bias/WeightBiasStudy.pdf

This post is entered in Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays and Real Food Whole Health's Traditional Tuesdays