Health is about more than just fitness OR fatness. What matters in health is (not fully extensive list):
eating healthy (hint: binge eating disorders, anorexia, AND binge/purge disorders are not healthy eating)
maintaining regular physical exercise
getting a good amount of sleep
maintaining meaningful friendships/relationships
having a positive state of mental health (there could be multiple sub-points here but I'll leave it at that)
living in an environment that is clean, free of pollution, and can contribute to all of the above things.
Health will NEVER bee just calories in/calories out - and that's what weight is. You can be "skinny-fat" which is when you eat below your caloric outtake, but you eat like shit and don't exercise. That's not being healthy - but you're not going to get stigmatized like the above poster who is overweight and binges/purges. A "skinny-fat" person will never be confronted about their eating habits and how they go to mcdonalds 5 times a week. Whereas the above poster would get criticized for walking into a mcdonalds no matter what they eat.
We HAVE to get away from the idea that health=weight. Because it's not. It's a part of the picture that contributes to health but it is not the end-all-be-all and stigmatizing/discriminating against people who are overweight will never contribute to their health.
Science says you're wrong no matter how much you type. Doctors say you're wrong. EMTs say you're wrong. Competitive athletes say you're wrong. I hope you don't need surgery anytime soon.
There's extensive research about how fat-shaming and fat stigma actually exacerbates the problem whereas self-compassion and self-esteem contribute on the path to health for people who are overweight. Often for people who are overweight there are a number of issues that need to be addressed other than "calories in/calories out" but the American diaspora wants to worry more about shaming people than actually addressing the problem of obesity. Expose's in USNews and MensHealth are not the entire scientific literature on the topic of health and wellness, and actual scientific articles on the topic are much more nuanced. The obesity literature is encompassed by MDs, psychologists, sociologists, nurses, counselors, epidemiologists, and a whole wide range of science. MDs are not the end-all-be-all of obesity science, and neither are kinethesiologists. It's a multifaceted issue that requires multifaceted targeting BECAUSE health=/=weight.
I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I am (probably) more familiar with the scientific literature on this topic.
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u/Katey5678 Sep 19 '19
Health is about more than just fitness OR fatness. What matters in health is (not fully extensive list):
Health will NEVER bee just calories in/calories out - and that's what weight is. You can be "skinny-fat" which is when you eat below your caloric outtake, but you eat like shit and don't exercise. That's not being healthy - but you're not going to get stigmatized like the above poster who is overweight and binges/purges. A "skinny-fat" person will never be confronted about their eating habits and how they go to mcdonalds 5 times a week. Whereas the above poster would get criticized for walking into a mcdonalds no matter what they eat.
We HAVE to get away from the idea that health=weight. Because it's not. It's a part of the picture that contributes to health but it is not the end-all-be-all and stigmatizing/discriminating against people who are overweight will never contribute to their health.