It’s the reverse of Body Shaming – embracing larger body shapes and sizes as ‘normal’, while demonizing stick-thin fashion models and accusing folks of normal weight and build of being unnaturally thin. That might make bigger people feel better about themselves, but there’s a down side…
Proud fat girls at the beach: They’re paying homage to the movement to embrace ‘plus sizes’,
but they’re also letting themselves in for a whole host of nasty conditions and in later life,
not the least of which are heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes…
A new study, by UK researchers at the University of East Anglia, reveals that the weight perception errors may be driving the already-serious and increasing problem of obesity.
The survey, ivolving more than 23,000 people who were overweight or obese, showed that men and individuals with lower levels of education and income are more likely to underestimate their weight status and, consequently, are less likely to try to lose weight.
Members of minority ethnic groups are also more likely to underestimate their weight than the white population, however they are more likely to try to lose weight. Overall, those underestimating their weight are 85 percent less likely to try to lose weight compared with people who accurately identified their weight status.
Not only that, but the number of people misperceiving their weight (intentionally or intentionally) continues to grow, from 48.4 percent to 57.9 percent in men and 24.5 percent to 30.6 percent in women between 1997 and 2015. Similarly, among individuals classified as obese, the proportion of men misperceiving their weight in 2015 was almost double that of 1997 (12 percent vs 6.6 percent).
The study comes amid growing global concern about rising obesity rates and follows a 2017 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that showed 63 percent of adults in the UK are overweight or obese. And the figures are pretty much the same across Europe and North America.
Embracing ‘larger sizes’…
The notion has been given wide exposure in the lifestyle press and even in the news. But, though it’s currently a high-profile factor in social thinking, normalizing overweight and maintaining that ‘big is beautiful’ has definite drawbacks both for individual health and society as a whole.
The notion that it’s okay to be ‘big’ is an entirely social one which seeks to counter the body shaming trend that’s blossomed over the past decade, and make fatties feel better about themselves. I suppose that’s a noble goal for some folks who have the time and money to pursue the tenets of Political Correctness to the letter. But it’ doesn’t make sense in the real world.
The cold, hard truth…
We already know that non-overweight, non-obese individuals live longer, healthier, more active lives. And they set a good example for the generations that follow them. That, alone, is great, but there is much much more at stake…
Obesity and the myriad diseases and conditions that it helps bring on are costing the global health care sector hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Think of how much healthier and productive – not to mention happier – the world would be without having to haul around all that extra flab! And imagine what we could do with all that saved money to help develop the third world and ensure food security for us all in the future!
Wouldn’t it wonderful if we could solve the world’s most pressing problems simply by eating responsible and maintaining a healthy weight? There’s no reason we couldn’t – if we all worked together, and stopped silly PC social crusades like embracing ‘plus sizes’ as normal…
~ Maggie J.