Fat Acceptance Is Wrong

[alfredglenstein 0]

Have you guys heard of the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance? Their name is self-evident, but to elaborate it is a group that among other things, hint that the entire industry of obesity research is biased because of their economic stake in the issue, implying that their information on obesity health risks are misleading.

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Most obesity researchers experience a profound economic conflict of interest. According to journalistic investigative reports on file at the NAAFA office, there is a connection between the evolution of the idea that obesity is a disease needing treatment and the economic interests of major players in the field. For example, the 1985 National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus conference which proclaimed obesity a "killer disease" also arbitrarily redefined obesity in such a way as to affect millions more Americans. This redefinition and the call for treatment translated into billions of additional dollars of research money, commercial weight loss industry profits, and physicians' revenues.

And from the same page:

Obesity researchers' hypotheses often incorporate personal or cultural biases against fat people. Unproven assumptions about fatness frequently invalidate the basic premise of research studies. For example, obesity researchers often use data from studies of very-low-calorie diets (which demonstrate initial weight loss, followed by weight regain, and then by early death) to "prove" that being fat is unhealthy, rather than interpreting the data to mean that very-low-calorie diets are unhealthy. Conversely, mainstream obesity researchers never study alternatives to weight loss (such as exercise) in improving co-morbidity factors.

If you've ever tried to wade through piles of available research papers in any subject of science, you've surely realized that such a cavalier sweep of the hand as this, over the entire field of obesity research, does supreme injustice to the diversity of research and opinions available.

 

And about that lack of excersize research, if you go to Obesityresearch.org and just type in "exercise" as a search term, this is the page you get:

http://www.nature.com/aj/formerly_published.html=

No exercise research?

 

And those are just a few of their positions. There are surely stigmas against fat people that ought to be fought against. But in my opinion this group (which is sadly speaking for and influencing a lot of people concerned with this cause) takes this message to an anti-science turn that can not do anything but harm the people who listen to it.

 

thoughts?

[jlhaslip 4]

Well, I am not fat. I used another topic here on the Xisto Forums to calculate that my Body Mass Index is within the Normal range. So, the point is that I have little experience with being overweight. I have never been on a diet to speak of. I pretty much eat what I want, when I want, and generally too much. If I need to lose a few pounds, I work an extra hour or two a day, and a bit harder. Eat less, move more is the only approach that I have ever used to adapt my weight. As for their approach to the problem of whether the National Institute of Health is erroneously promoting Weight loss as a money grabbing venture, I'll bet there are similar results from other Research Organizations throughout the world. Must be a conspiracy amongst the scientists. I wonder if the Cancer researchers actually have the cure, but are waiting for offers from the Pharmaceutical companies before it goes public with the news. Fat chance of that. (pardon the pun) I think they are failing to recognize the facts of the matter. If you have to move more weight around, the engine and drive train only work to a certain level. When you try to move too much weight in a small truck, the truck breaks some parts as a result. Why would the human body be any different. The research is more likely to be correct than their claims.

[mama_soap 0]

Ahh... interesting. I have given up on the research stories. We had a lesson in our General English module in our last semester in college that was precisely about this sort of thing. The author expresses his extreme distaste for 'scientfic' observations and analysis, and claims that the only way to go is to follow thy heart... eat what you like, enjoy the food, yada yada...Actually, I kinda agree. If I were to grow obese as a consequence of my food intake, I would perhaps be a little worried - not so much about the appearence-oriented problems (I usually couldn't care less); but more because of the associated health concerns - I wouldn't completely shrug away the possiblitly of becoming a potential heart patient <_<But again, I would combat it, like jlhaslip pointed out, with some movement and excerise. My normal tactic is to shut the door to my study, convert my computer into a music station, turn up the volume, and dance like no one's watching [Edit: Corrected a rather embarassing spelling mistake *oops*]

Edited April 27, 2006 by mama_soap (see edit history)

[Sprnknwn 0]

I think that it?s true, too much hidden interests everywhere. But almost every little thing is moved by money so I?m not surprised. But extremes are not good, so you can be fat and you don?t have to feel guilty for that, but only worried if it takes health problems.

[CroSpartacus 0]

Fat acceptance is wrong. I don't think we should harrass fat people but encourage them to lose some weight. I couldn't live with myself if I was obese, the first thing I would do is lose the weight.

[xaetos 0]

You guys are forgeting how difficult it is for some people to lose weight. There are medical problems, hormone imbalances that make it near impossible. Some people are on medications that make it a very difficult thing to do. There's also the fact that once you've gained weight, the space for new fat is still available. When you're "skinny", those spaces don't exist, they are created when more fat storage space is required by your body. That makes it an awful lot harder for people who've lost weight to have done so in the first place, and especially for them to keep the weight off.While I'm not saying we should be going out congratulating all the obese kids in todays society who are the way they are because they do nothing but sit inside and play ps2 or xbox or other similar things while their parents give them chips to munch on, I don't think you should "not accept" the many people in the world who are the way they are out of no fault of their own.

[wariorpk 0]

I agree that people should not let themselves go to the point where it could kill them but there is nothing wrong with having a small amount of extra weight. If you have a few extra pounds and you get sick and can not eat that little bit of fat will keep you alive when you can not eat. The idea of having a little extra fat isn't bad it is just when people have way too much to eat and they are chronically obese. Once you are chronically obese its nearly impossible to lose the weight because you have a very hard time exercising. The only way for an obese person to lose weight is to go on a very strict diet. I know because my grandma has tried diet after diet and not very many give any results at all.

[matto 0]

I think the main reason for the amount of obesity in the world (or just the U.S....) today is mainly caused by (a)laziness of people in the sense that no one gets as much excersize as they should; and (b)eating a lot of UNHEALTHY foods.Now, actually, I think that the main main reason is the fact that people eat too much unhealthy foods. People "eat out" at McDonalds every day, or after school stop by the 7Eleven or BurgerKing and get themselves a HUGENORMOUS big-gulp of almost straight surgar. The fact that all these big companies are throwing sugar down everyone's (particularly childeren's) throat is the main cause.

[Sinari 0]

I've done a BMI calculator and it's official. I'm partially overweight. I eat okay and I'm not overly active but I'm not a deadweight. I don't eat out very often and when I do, I make sure that I'm eating right and not making the wrong kind of choices. I don't think that we should be accepting the fact that we're fat or anything though. We try to lose weight. Research materials are pretty well useless for me once I've read all of those magazines and such. Hey, someday, you could band together with all of the others who hate the poor quality of research and write our own research that is complete, accurate, and actually might help someone more than that worthless stuff that they try to forcefeed us now. Also, by the way, sugar is not thrown down our throats, it was given to us by someone and if our parents would be parents and actually cook meals for all of the misguided children in the world. This does not include me if you actually know me and think you have learned something about me from this post- think again because I eat well and stuff. Basically, eat good and stop whinning.

[Jimmy 0]

I've done a BMI calculator and it's official. I'm partially overweight. I eat okay and I'm not overly active but I'm not a deadweight. I don't eat out very often and when I do, I make sure that I'm eating right and not making the wrong kind of choices. I don't think that we should be accepting the fact that we're fat or anything though. We try to lose weight. Research materials are pretty well useless for me once I've read all of those magazines and such. Hey, someday, you could band together with all of the others who hate the poor quality of research and write our own research that is complete, accurate, and actually might help someone more than that worthless stuff that they try to forcefeed us now. Also, by the way, sugar is not thrown down our throats, it was given to us by someone and if our parents would be parents and actually cook meals for all of the misguided children in the world. This does not include me if you actually know me and think you have learned something about me from this post- think again because I eat well and stuff. Basically, eat good and stop whinning.

I totally agree... there are many hundreds of people out there who are going to places like macdonalds or pizza hut every day or just eating those microwave meals for every time they are not visiting a fat feasting place. With the introduction of 'buffet' meals and supersizes that get bigger and cheaper every day, making even more of an incentive to enjoy the food. People say that 'it is glandular'. Though this may be true for a very small amount of the population, it makes for absolutely no excuse not to try and get a little exercise. Even though being large would be fairly embarrassing, many gym machines are available extremely cheaply for your own home so there would be no need for them to advertise being obese. if you are overweight it should not be difficult to cook your own healthier meals. This doesn't mean just eating boring salad or stuff like that, but just getting a wider range of diet with everything that should be nicer anyway. A main problem would be the fact that all those high fat fast food restaurants were proven to be addictive. This is probably the worst problem, the 'enjoyment factor...'

The only reason it would be productive to accept that anyone was fat would be if we were to accept in order to do something about it. Once it has been accepted, that should make it even easier to go outside and get some exersise, without being overly worried about other people's opinions about it. otherwise, the society tht we live in will begin to expand, literally, with the majority of people too accepted to care about the way they look and feel. I cannot say how it would feel to have slimmed down to a normal size, after being obese, but I can imagine that it should be a great feeling, if nothing else of what an achievement has been completed

Personally, I wouldn't call myself 'fat'. I would admit that I do not get enough exercise as I should be getting, but I don't seem to expand very easily at all. Unfortunately for other people, I can eat as much as I want (even Ł10 worth of chocolate in two days - of course not all the time!!! ) but I still seem to not expand. I would say that my weight was average, I am not obese, nor am I critically skinny. In a few years this will probably change, but i will enjoy it whilst it lasts!.

[Kioku 0]

I totally, if not completely agree and *BLEEP* heartedly oppose any acceptance of obesity. It leads to many diseases and common fatalities resulting from heart complications and is generally not healthy over all. Not only are fat people more likely to get heart complications, but the extra body mass also produces a higher cancer risk from having a higher amount of cells and area where stuff can go wrong. Diabetes developing later on is also a risk, since the body has to work for alot more than it can handle. Humans are primates who live in a generally moderate climate ( or try to with indoor air conditioning, heating, etc. ) and would have no real use for layers of fat. We're not aquatic mammals, afterall. So what, if their feelings get hurt? Emotions versus lives, saving their life wins hands down. Either way, it's nobody else's fault, but their own. Nobody forced food down their throat or made them eat that much but their own selves. They can shift the blame from themselves all they want, but the fact remains. Not only that, but seeing morbidly obese people who don't know they're fat dress up and try to look attractive is a little disgusting a nahrd to look at for too long without starting to feel quite ill to the stomach.

[CroSpartacus 0]

Isn't it true that if you are obese it lowers the risk of certain types of cancer and diseases? It raises the risk of many more diseases but I remember hearing something that fatness prevents a few diseases.

[terminal2k 0]

well if you are fat you are less likely to get laid so you could say that being fat can reduce the risk of sexually transmitted dieases

[CroSpartacus 0]

lol, that may be true, unless the fat guy has lots of money. I really don't understand how the extremely fat people can live like that. If that were me, I would lose that weight immediately, it would be impossible for me to live that kind of life.

[alfredglenstein 0]

You guys are forgeting how difficult it is for some people to lose weight. There are medical problems, hormone imbalances that make it near impossible.

Dude, we aren't "forgetting" anything if we haven't mentioned it, and the only way you can suggest that is if your intution led you to invent that idea. It is untrue. There are medical problems (but roughly 30% of obesity is due to genetics, meaning 70% is because of lifestyle and environment, those are the facts). The sources are out there and if you want I'll get them but I know off the top of my head. If you don't take my word for it I'll look it up (but it will only demonstrate I'm right.)
This here is the problem with fat acceptance, and why it is such a complicated issue. We aren't even allowed to talk about it because first someone will get caught up warning us about how intolerant we are being. And while they stand up making that statement it gets in the way of the bigger issue: fat is unhealthy, it is preventable, and it kills (connected to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, some of the biggest killers out there.) That is important and it is really ironic that people who stand up and say others are being judgmental or aren't thinking about something, go on and assume (baselessly) that their opponents are making some assumption.

Some people are on medications that make it a very difficult thing to do.

There are always, in any discussion, exceptions to the rule, but if the exceptions are so irrelevantly tiny it is generally accepted that we don't have to go out of our way making note of them.

That makes it an awful lot harder for people who've lost weight to have done so in the first place, and especially for them to keep the weight off.

I think that is a given (in many cases,) but you present it as if this speaks against the proven fact that obesity is unhealthy. Not accepting it doesn't mean that we don't understand the difficulty of it. This again is the problem. No one wants to speak up on obesity without first listing all of the exceptions, and frankly, its a disservice to the real discussion we should be having. Yes diets can be hard, yes in some cases people who take medicines are less able to lose weight yes this and that. But is this supposed to mean that it is ok to try and tell ourselves that being obese is healthy? Of course not! And that was the point in the first place! And so when these exceptions are listed it wastes our time filling the air and filling forums with space where we have to agree... which then opens a back door and lets us get distracted from the real issue.
I think this is the laymen discussion on obesity:
"Did you know obesity is attributable to 300,000 deaths a year?"
"Yeah that's true but it's hard for some people to lose weight"
"Yeah.."

RIGHT THERE! Look! Did you see it! The main point just evaporated and was gone! We can't let our debates be so simple and shallow like this, because if they remain this way our country will never come to a solid and clearly unified understanding of the need to stop obesity.

I don't think you should "not accept" the many people in the world who are the way they are out of no fault of their own.

If they don't act to change it and at least see what weight loss they are capable of, then it is their fault, regardless of their metabolism or circumstance. If it truly isn't their fault, we are talking about minority of the people who actually are obese. Yes let's accept this but we have to move on and have the real discussion.
Also note that I didn't even volunteer to get into any of this but spoke only of a specific organization that specifically volunteered particular facts that were untrue. But here I am having to defend against all these things that I never even claimed I beleived.

If you have a few extra pounds and you get sick and can not eat that little bit of fat will keep you alive when you can not eat.

And this is a reason for saying it's okay for levels of obesity to go up by like 25% a year across the world?

Isn't it true that if you are obese it lowers the risk of certain types of cancer and diseases? It raises the risk of many more diseases but I remember hearing something that fatness prevents a few diseases.

Hmm. If it is true it has to still be placed in the context of all the diseases and health problems that it increases risk for. A straight mortality and obesity graph would show that the more obese one is the more likely they are to die an early death, so any health benefit (which I have not heard of) is definately absorbed and made insignificant by the problems it raises.