I Take Up Space

May all your wish come true for your sake and all of our sakes! Your logic is sound and your heart is, in my opinion, in the right place. There is no room for bigotry in health care. Thank you!
Warmly, Dr. Deah Schwartz

Brilliant Patty! As usual. So ironic that the work ethic we inherited might be HARMING our health. U.S. workers are among the hardest working, with the most hours and shortest vacations in the industrialized world. Overwork and stress can contribute to many of the conditions obesity is always blamed for. How many of these fascist work place wellness programs who harp incessantly on our weight are also advocating for fewer hours, more time off, health care and stress reduction! We are like serfs, if you kill yourself making a buck for your employer you are a good American. But don't you dare get any pleasure for yourself along the way!

As I have said for years, if you see a fat person and a skinny person walking down the street, you can no more assume that the fat person is a compulsive overeater, than you can assume the skinny person is bulimic or anorexic. Animals, including us big brained humans, come in a diversity of sizes. Many people, through years of dieting, diet drugs and surgeries, have messed with the body’s intrinsic knowledge of a healthy size and in doing so; we have caused great harm on many, many people. I, too, wish for a future with a sane medical system that is weight, class and economically neutral. Let’s treat people AS people.

Dr. Thomas - I must diagree with you vehemently over your characterization of what you call healthists. Blaming the health industry is a red herring argument which deflects from the real problem which is diet and exercise. You point out that it is cheaper to promote diet and exercise, which may be true, but it is also evolutionarily and biologically sound solutions to the problem.
The issue is not changing the culture to accept fat people for who they are, or ‘social justice’ as you term it, for rat people. The issue is returning to the diets and daily regimens that have kept us healthy and svelt for the past few hundred thousand years. Not eating processed foods, getting lots of exercise, and limiting caloric intake are the keys to this change. You blame everyone but fat people for their situation and speak from emotion instead of scientific and medical fact.
I also disagree with your claim that the basis for a strong social group lies in empathy. While empathy does have a place in cementing ties within a certain group, it is the common goals, common purposes, group survival that forge social bonds. If a person is different from ourselves they are immediately considered an outsider, whether it is their skin color, social class, or weight. It is an evolutionary adaptation from our deep past that allows us to form coalitionary groups. Just because you may be outside what may be considered the norm for a group does not mean that you can just change the norm. Don’t blame the group for your own failings.
I will never apologize for being, as you term us, a healthist. I run, lift weights, am fit, and healthy. I do not force others to be like me and don’t blame others for my health issues if I have any. If I gain weight, it is my fault and I get rid of it. Half of our population needs to try to do the same instead of blaming others for their problems.

Pattie,

Great article! I think there may be a typo, though.

In paragraph six, you say, "Health, like wealth, is not perceived almost exclusively as being under the control of the individual."

Don't you mean "now perceived" rather than "not perceived?"

Keep up the great work!

Priscilla

Mark,

Aw, yes, the old "just eat right and exercise and you'll be thin fatty fatty" argument. It simply isn't true. NO real evidence exists that diet and exercise will make a fat person permanently thin. In fact, studies show that fat people eat and exercise much like their thinner counterparts. Fat people are blamed time and time again for their bodies, told to just lose weight if they want to be treated well. And, yet, we have no scientific evidence that it is even possible to lose weight long term. We also have NO evidence that weight loss improves health. Plenty of evidence that nutritious eating and exercise are good for you -- even if you stay fat, but no evidence that weight loss alone improves health.

What we do have is a great deal of scientific evidence suggesting that humans come in diverse sizes. We have evidence that healthy eating and exercise will make people healthier, but seldom lead to permanent weight loss. We have plenty of evidence that attempts at weight loss tend to cause weight gain.

Healthism is a real prejudice that is causing many people reduced quality of life. Consider yourself lucky if you have never suffered from it.

This article makes me think of some of the research that came from http://yourmorals.org/ (related blog at http://www.yourmorals.org/blog/). I'm also reminded of http://www.eskimo.com/~largesse/Archives/healthism.html. Great read, and I look forward to the rest!

I learned much from this piece, and by following the links I'm learning more. The idea that all health is a result of individuals' behavior is deeply flawed. Environment, stress, and genetics have much more to do with outcomes, as I explained in my book Diabetes: Sugar-coated Crisis (Hunter House 2006.)

Health and illness are socially created. Blaming individuals for being the way they are never helps. People should be encouraged to live healthier, happier, more meaningful lives, not told to obsess about their weight or their lab results. Then you'll see healthier people and a stronger society.

Mark - In the first place, you are projecting your own laziness on to fat people. If you did a little research, u would find that weight is not just about diet and health. We were not all lean for centuries, fat people existed at least since agriculture. Maybe not as many, but even a little historical research would tell you they existed. Several of our founding fathers were fat. In fact, we can thank fat for the reason we are here in such good shape, it helped us survive the famines. The more diverse a species, the better its chance of survival. Thinking and researching is much harder than spouting ill informed opinions, try it sometime!
Furthermore, I am unimpressed by your health regime. So you go to great efforts to avoid gaining weight because: you seek approval, you care what others think, you want the psychological comfort of controlling ONE of the infinite health risk factors out there (the talisman effect), or you want to eek out every last millisecond in an overcrowded planet. The theme is YOU, you do it for selfish reasons. It is all about narcissism, conformity and fear, all the things that are brining us down. You sticking to a rigid fitness regime does not give you a free pass for self-righteousness or lack of compassion. Many of us go to great efforts in areas we care about, it doesn't make us any better than anyone else. I gave up my car years ago for environmental reasons, but if I were to criticize drivers I would be considered judgmental and flaky.
One more point, if keeping fit was so fulfilling to you, you would not need to judge or condemn others. I run into this argument all the time, if I have to do it (jog, gym, starve) so should they. Funny do you hear mountain climbers or concert pianist expressing such antagonism against others? They have grueling regimes too. NO, because they are following their inner voice. You caved to social pressure, then hate anyone following a different path. Your resentment itself indicates at some level there is conflict between what you truly want and feel you must do to fit in be a "good soldier." And you will get the social approval you seek among many. But ironically, when society sheds this cultural dysfunction of weight obsession, it will be the ones who think for themselves that get the most admiration in the long run!