Fitness for all, not just fat people

23rd April 2008

Fitness for all, not just fat people

posted in Fat Bias, Fitness/Exercise, Health/Nutrition |

When I began making a concerted effort to deal with my gym phobia two months ago and become more active, my litmus was not weight loss or even inches lost. No, my goal was far less common: To run up the three and a half flights of stairs to my graduate class without huffing like a diesel truck.

Two months and hundreds of stairclimbing, cycling and walking miles later, I haven’t lost a single solitary pound, but I’m able to glide up the stairs effortlessly without getting winded. I kind of felt like Rocky after climbing the steps to the Philadelphia Art Museum.

An MSNBC story today addresses America’s “couch potato crisis,” but like most stories on fitness, it mindlessly conflates a lack thereof with obesity. Although the article notes that the average 2005 life expectancy is 78, up from 47 in 1900 and 68 in 1950, it continues to echo the as yet unsubstantiated claim that this generation may be the first to live shorter lives than their parents.

A story purportedly on Americans’ inactivity not so surprisingly quickly devolves into a scathing critique of obesity and obese people who, according to contributing writer Jacqueline Stenson, all eat Krispy Kremes, throw off their sneakers and kick back while their waistlines expand. I was surprised however, to see an actual dissenting opinion from someone other than NAAFA. Enter Samuel Preston, a professor of demography at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia:

“It’s extremely unlikely that today’s children will have shorter life expectancies than their parents. From everything I see, we continue to make rapid progress at extending life as a result of improvements in medical technology and personal health practices,” such as smoking less. Yes, we are fatter than we used to be but the implications of that have not been nearly as severe as has been popularly assumed.”

Preston acknowledges there is “some uncertainty” about the long-term impact of obesity on young kids. But, he says, “I haven’t seen a single convincing study that relates adult deaths to childhood obesity.” Side note: I have yet to see a death certificate with “obesity” listed as cause of death.

The article goes on to acknowledge that it is entirely possible to be fit and fat and such people may “possibly” be better off than thinner, sedentary people – as evidenced by this recent study. It also notes that smokers tend to be thinner than nonsmokers and that class differences also contribute to longevity. But the conversation quickly circles back to obesity as an indicator of inactivity.

I don’t deny that there exists a correlation between physical activity and body weight, but other than a fleeting reference, nowhere does the article address the health implications for sedentary, thin people. Such people seem to get a free pass to be inactive, while fat people are simply assumed to be inactive. And although such a correlation exists, it’s one fraught with immeasurable variables. Weight loss is not a simple matter of calories in/calories burned. As this NY Times article reveals, there are multiple factors that influence the effect of exercise on weight loss, none of which are conclusive or standard for all people. Physical activity may not make you thin, but it will make you healthier – regardless of your size.

The issue of what it is people are eating also isn’t addressed, besides the aforementioned stereotypical assumption that fat people eat Krispy Kreme. I don’t often evangelize about food here, even my ardent vegetarianism, because I feel an eating disorders blog ought not rank or judge food. But as my graduate research on food culture indicates, many of the diseases currently attributed to obesity and listed in detail in this article have actually arisen in tandem with the rise of processed foods, which are regularly consumed by people both fat and thin. For a good article on this, see here.

In short: Physical inactivity is detrimental to health – for people of all sizes. Suggesting only fat people are inactive is like suggesting only smokers get lung cancer or heart disease. It’s dangerously assumptive for those thin people who aren’t active and it’s insulting and offensive to those fat people who are. It also contributes to a hostile and toxic climate in which a majority of five-year-old girls would rather lose an arm than become the dreaded fat. We need to encourage all able-bodied people to incorporate physical activity in their lives and not just those people who are fat. After all, which is more important: Good health or the illusion of good health?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Fat Bias, Fitness/Exercise, Health/Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On April 23rd, 2008, Jackie

said:

This is off-topic. I just wanted to tell you that I realized now what you said about Wall.E promoting fat hate, is true. Rachel, perhaps I should stop fighting, and just realize you’re right. First about Dr. Phil, and now this. It seems I’m doing myself a disservice by not acknowledging your great insight.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm

2 On April 23rd, 2008, Rachel

Did I blog about Dr. Phil? Hmm.. I usually prefer to leave quacks alone.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 3:44 pm

3 On April 23rd, 2008, Fauve722

I am now more physically active, on a regular basis, than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m also the fattest I’ve ever been in my life. I do the exercise bc I think it helps beat some of my depression and it also improves my overall health. So, I definitely think that a person can be both fit and fat. Or, at least more fit, even if fat, than they would be if they did not exercise. On the other hand, I am also a fat person who eats alot of food like Krispy Kremes. And I also ate alot of them when I was very slender. Only, now such eating has caught up with my aging metabolism, my depression and my ed. Soooo. I can’t deny that I eat rather poorly. Even though I love healthy food, as well (I just love, food, period). I don’t know how many fat people have binge eating disorder, but it’s got to be more than me, that’s for sure. The thing is, easing up on my guilt about eating things like Krispy Kremes also makes me ease up on Eating them - or, at least eating them to as extreme as I would when in deep guilt and selfhatred. The article Rachel links to is a good one, I guess, but people like Michael Pollan just make me feel very guilty, so I don’t listen to him. I have to do what I can do with food issues. I love sweets, I love my health. So, I Do eat alot of “crap”, but I also exercise and I try to eat some good stuff, too. Not giving up on yourself -no matter what you eat or how much you weigh - is key, I think.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 3:47 pm

4 On April 23rd, 2008, MrsDrC

I saw this headline on MSNBC this morning during my morning online reading and was really hoping you’d chime in.

I couldnt even make all the way, I was just too peeved. Had to stop reading and check the fatosphere for new blogs.

It’s insanity that a skinny person can spend 90% of their time sitting motionless, smoking and are seen as healthy. Yet a fat person out for their daily walk gets looks, and comments about how they are normally lazy or it’s about time they got some excersize.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 4:03 pm

5 On April 23rd, 2008, ladyjaye

Your last sentence brings to mind my first boyfriend of sorts who, one day that I was complaining about my weight, replied “Would you rather be fat and fit or out of shape and skinny?”… That kinda shut me up right there. (He himself was a tall and skinny guy, just to say)

Guess that was my first exposure to HAES, unbeknownst to my 18-year-old self!

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm

6 On April 23rd, 2008, Midsize Lurker

I wonder why they don’t use these findings to advertise more gym memberships and workout gear to skinny and midsize people with the promise of immortality? Why does the focus always have to be on weight and weight loss? Even when they realized that many of us have Metabolic Syndrome or the precursors to it without looking particularly big, they go and say that the problem is that we’re “fat on the inside” and need to lose weight, not that we’re susceptible to metabolic syndrome and need to get adequate exercise and try to delay or control the symptoms with exercise and less-insulin-taxing foods if we can.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm

7 On April 23rd, 2008, Zilly

I always worry for the poor thin children who will grow up thinking that if they don’t start gaining weight, there’s no need for them to exercise. Of course most of us grown-ups tend to tell every child that exercise is important, but only the fat ones are constantly presented with a reason that makes sense to them. Which is, all in all, very sad.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm

8 On April 23rd, 2008, EAD

right on! that has always been my goal in exercise as well, and what a great goal it is. I lowered my resting heart rate from 80 to 65 within a three-month stint of regular gym-going. One night, running home from the subway, trying to escape rain, I realized I had gotten all the way there without being winded. Did I lose a pound? Nope. Did I feel great? absolutely! thank you for this post!

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm

9 On April 23rd, 2008, Fat Girl

Well put.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm

10 On April 23rd, 2008, Piffle

The thing that got my goat about the article is that the study found that people in certain counties were dying earlier and they automatically attributed that to weight. WHERE IN THE HELL IS THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT THESE ARE POOR COUNTIES! No thought is given to the probably lack of HEALTHCARE in these counties. Geez, if they’d said “Lifespans decreasing for people without healthcare” it would have been more accurate.

Excuse me while I go dip my head in water and make some steam.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm

11 On April 23rd, 2008, susan

The “fat people must be slugs” attitude is very upsetting to me. I’m overweight, but I exercise more than most of my friends who are slimmer. I also eat more healthfully. When I was an undereating, overexercising size 6, I got constant comments about how “good” I was for eating salad and skipping doughnuts at the staff meetings. Now, nary a word is said. I think they believe I must get my doughnuts elsewhere because, after all, everyone knows fat people eat too much.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm

12 On April 23rd, 2008, Kate

I have a nice little case study right in my own family:

My dad–exercises religiously, at least five days a week, did a 60 mile walk last summer, 56 years old and still biking, walking, running, swimming, elliptical-ing for an hour or two most days because it makes him feel good.

My mom–has not exercised at all over the course of the majority of my lifetime. (Except for spurts of yoga or walking that tend to last maybe a couple times a week for a month, tops, and then don’t happen again for 6 months to a year…)

Mom’s weight? Normal. She’s an itty-bitty person, period. Dad’s weight? Lower end of “obesity.”

(And no, he doesn’t eat Krispy Kremes all day long.)

Hmmmmmm…

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 pm

13 On April 23rd, 2008, TropicalChrome

Congratulations on reaching *your* goal. One of the things that helped me get over my gym class trauma was realizing that no one, absolutely NO ONE in the gym had any idea of what my goal was or why I was there so they simply couldn’t tell me I was doing it wrong. (Well, they could try, but I could tell them they didn’t know what I was aiming for. But no one does because they’re so wrapped up in their own workouts that they don’t notice anyone else.)

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 8:43 pm

14 On April 23rd, 2008, tanglethis

I’m impressed that you can make the stairs without huffing. There are four two-leveled flights between the class that I teach and my office; I walk them three days a week and arrive breathless and a little sweaty (I sweat all the time on my new hormones, though) but feeling good.

Sometimes my students follow me up for conferences - usually trim young people, I have an early class and it is mostly attended by athletes who are up early anyway - and they are always boggled by the climb. I thought stairs killed everyone! : D

But I’m in total agreement. And I feel like this post should be linked whenever there is a discussion of thin people’s unhealth. The right way to frame this discussion is “Being physically active will make you healthy but not necessarily thin” (as you’ve done) and not “some thin people are secretly obese!” as I’ve seen in news from time to time.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm

15 On April 23rd, 2008, Tuesday

Yes to everything.

When I was in high school I took a class that focused partly on health. By the end of the year I had been inundated with so much beware-the-fat messages of doom that I was actually seriously wondering whether it was possible to be thin and unhealthy - as in, do I really have to worry about heart attacks, ect., as long as I’m not overweight? Which is ridiculous, but it’s because with every health danger came a “linked to obesity”.

I know now that you can be skinny and very unhealthy, and fat and very healthy. But there are still so many people who don’t. I’m naturally skinny, and never exercise. I do want to get into shape (I would love more muscle definition in several parts of my body, and to go upstairs without needing to “rest” afterwards and catch my breath). But I’ve learned not to mention this to people; if you say you want to hit the gym, people automatically assume it’s to lose weight and the reaction is always “but you’re already so thin!” (followed later by gossip about anorexia, but that’s another story). It doesn’t even occur to people that I might want stronger lungs or legs.

Unfortunately, I just don’t see this changing anytime soon.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm

16 On April 24th, 2008, Stan

Isn’t there a contradiction here? The fat acceptance movement insists that “Diets don’t work!,” based simply on statistical observations that people in the real world don’t keep off weight after diets. And yet it promotes the idea of “Fat but Fit,” when the same statistical observations show that fat people don’t exercise in any greater percentages than dieters who keep off their weight.

posted on April 24th, 2008 at 1:13 pm

17 On April 24th, 2008, Rachel

Hi Stan: A clarification, first. I am a fat rights activist. I do not identify as a fat acceptance activist.

Moot point aside, I’d like to see these studies you speak of that address the physical activity (or inactivity) of fat people. Can you provide us with some citation information? And many diets do work - as long as you stay on them.

And my point here is not to insist all or even a majority of fat people are fit, because I couldn’t possibly know and I am not aware of any valid studies on the subject. My point rather is to highlight that all people could benefit from physical fitness, and not just fat people for whom it’s myopically applied.

posted on April 24th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

18 On April 26th, 2008, Jackie

“I always worry for the poor thin children who will grow up thinking that if they don’t start gaining weight, there’s no need for them to exercise. Of course most of us grown-ups tend to tell every child that exercise is important, but only the fat ones are constantly presented with a reason that makes sense to them. Which is, all in all, very sad.” - Zilly

I agree completely Zilly. There is so much emphasis on worrying about fat people’s health, thin people may assume they’re in the clear. Everyone should be more active, because that is what keeps your body healthy, period. Not any body type, or whatever is the ideal food this month. You know, like it’s red wine cause of isoflavones or something, then the next day it’s some other food that’s supposed to guarentee perfect health.

Also, Rachel I belive the post you had on Dr. Phil, was complaining about a show he did with a girl who had an eating disorder.

posted on April 26th, 2008 at 3:12 am