The Skinny on the Fatosphere

Last week in the NY Times, there appeared an article regarding the growth of blogs related to health and fitness (Yay!!), and more specifically on “blogs written by fat people- and it’s fine to use the word, they say”.  This new blogosphere culture is now being referred to as the “fatosphere”.

I am troubled by this article.  The theme that seems to underlie these blogs mentioned in the article is this idea that there is nothing wrong with being overweight.  In fact, people aren’t more overweight, it’s society’s sudden fascination with “thin” that is creating this imaginary world of overweight, and instead of addressing this fictitious problem of obesity, we need to focus on just being happy the way we are.

First, we are not more overweight as a society.  What?!  I’m in my twenties, and I remember only a couple of pudgy kids in my elementary school.  Driving by bus stops today, I am amazed at how many “pudgy” kids I see.  Are we then saying that the shift to fast food, the lack of exercise, the rise of video games is not contributing to this rise in child obesity?  Are our children overweight because we’ve somehow mutated genetic make-up and are creating a new class of kid that is born to be obese?  Interestingly enough, there are studies regarding genes that contribute to obesity.  However many researchers conclude that these genetic mutations or genetic predispositions are not recent occurences, that today’s environment and behavior play a role (to what extent is still being examined).

Also, I think there is a huge difference between being NOT thin and healthy and being overweight with high-blood pressure, diabetes, and/or heart disease.  I am 5 foot, and I have (gasp!) thighs and a caboose that exclude me from being _______ (insert name).  In fact, strict dieting (like starving) and exercise would minimize my waist to 20 inches before I shed an inch on my thighs.  Is it frustrating?  Absolutely!  I used to wish (sometimes still do) that I had bird legs instead of the ones I got, but I got bum genes from my farmer ancestors, and here I am! So I am in no way suggesting that genes don’t play a role in our body shapes, some shapes that are “designed” to be less petite than others. I just don’t want people to resign to their current state when they, in fact, are capable of change. I don’t want people to miss out on all of the amazing effects that a healthy lifestyle can offer because their efforts haven’t always been successful.

Forums that allow us to seek support and share our frustrations are great if our intent is to motivate and improve. We all could use a little more self-esteem boosting, a little more acceptance, a greater sense of empowerment. My hope is that folks who are less than satisfied with their body, will focus their efforts on being more healthy, not just thin and will challenge themselves to answer the question, “Am I as healthy as I can be?” 

Corporations offering financial incentives to lose weight

There is this recent trend in the business world to lower health care costs and one way that corporations are trying to do this is through employee programs that pay employees to lose weight.  I personally know of one Fortune 400 company that has instituted this policy, and I know of a couple of its employees who are enrolled in this new program.  So is this a good idea?

Perhaps if you are the individual who knows about fitness and nutrition, and you’ve just needed a little incentive or a little push to get you well on your way, maybe this is a great idea.  Corporations theoretically will have healthier employees that equal lower health care costs and employees have a little extra spending cash to reward him or herself for a job well done.  But what if the Associated Press article “Diet: Thin People May Be Fat Inside” is correct and thin doesn’t equal healthy?  In fact the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that exercise (with a sensible diet) equals healthy.  Also what about the whole population of “thin” people who are excluded from participating?  What if you are a person who is fit, but really could use the extra dough?  What if you are a person who is “thin”, but clearly not healthy?  For instance, my brother-in-law (BL) eats 5 times a day, loses weight if he dips under his 5 meal regimen, and works out.  At first glance, you would think he was an in-shape guy.  What you wouldn’t know is that his cholesterol is through the roof!  What you also wouldn’t know is that he LOVES him some Kentucky Fried Chicken.  After one of his monumental physical exams, the doctor instructed him that his cholesterol was super high, and he needed to adjust his diet to lower it.  The only thing different BL did in one month was stop eating KFC, and his cholesterol went down like 100 points.  Now if that isn’t a public service announcement, I do not know what is.   My point is that while weight can be an indicator of level of health, it isn’t the only indicator.  If weight loss equals amount of calories consumed – amount of calories spent and a calorie is a calorie, I could theoretically adjust my diet to the “right” amount of KFC and lose weight if I just continued to burn more calories, but my arteries would probably clog, and my bowels would hate me. 

I’m also not okay with this idea that providing financial incentives somehow perpetuates this idea that overweight people are overweight simply because they lack motivation.  I have no doubt that there are probably a percentage of people who fall into this category, but living a healthy lifestyle requires practice and knowledge.  I think part of the reason people think that they are knowledgeable about nutrition is because we feed ourselves every day and somehow that gives us merit.  But as the world turns more toward prepared foods, take-out, and dine-ins, our ideas of serving sizes and ingredients are skewed.  Making healthy choices at the food counter and creating quick meals that are balanced and nutritious takes time.  It also takes money.  It seems in today’s day and age, we seem to have less of both. 

So while I understand the method behind the madness, I am increasingly skeptical as to whether we are all better off for it.