Want to fight obesity? “Stop hating”

7th October 2009

Want to fight obesity? “Stop hating”

posted in Fat Acceptance, Fat Bias, Rachel |

Daniel Engbar hits the nail on the head in his latest column for Slate: “Glutton Intolerance: What if a war on obesity only makes the problem worse?”

These data points suggest a rather simple approach to America’s obesity problem: Stop hating. If we weren’t such unrepentant body bigots, fat people might earn more money, stay in school, and receive better medical care in hospitals and doctor’s offices. All that would go a long way toward mitigating the health effects of excess weight—and its putative costs. But there’s an even better reason to think that America’s glutton intolerance is a threat to public health and the federal budget. Recent epidemiological research implies that the shame of being obese poses its own medical risk. Mental anguish harms the body; weight stigma can break your heart.

Engbar then delves into an interesting theory behind many of the so called obesity-related diseases. Victims of chronic stress or depression tend to maintain higher levels of inflammatory chemicals, or cytokines, in their bloodstream, which can increase one’s risk of heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. As it turns out, fat people often have unusually high cytokine levels, which as epidemiologist Peter Muennig argues, are caused by the stress and shame of being fat — the more abuse you take, the worst the disease. And the current anti-obesity rhetoric, Engbar says, only fans the social stigma flames.

…there’s plenty of evidence that body-shape discrimination plays a role in human disease outcomes. Shortness, for example, is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, and early death—as well as lower wages and fewer long-term relationships. For some reason, though, the health effects of being short are worse for men than they are for women. Could it be that the social consequences of height and weight go in opposite directions?If anti-fat bias can affect our bodies, then it’s worth considering how an all-out war on obesity plays out in terms of public health. When we reach out to poor communities and educate them about the risks of being overweight, we are, in effect, exporting the weight stigma that happens to be most prevalent among rich, white people.

We’ve worked hard to frame excess weight as a major health risk and a drain on the economy. The motivation is generous enough: Anti-obesity rhetoric encourages people to eat less and exercise more. But what if it also encourages discrimination? If that’s the case, a war on obesity would come at a significant cost to the fattest Americans—in terms of lower wages, less education, and more stress-related illness.

Exactly.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Fat Acceptance, Fat Bias, Rachel. 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 October 7th, 2009, Shiyiya said:

Bravo.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 7:52 am

2 On October 7th, 2009, buttercup said:

Is it too much to hope that the lights might be coming on above peoples’ heads?

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 8:46 am

3 On October 7th, 2009, EarleyDaysYet said:

Buttercup: probably. 

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 9:34 am

4 On October 7th, 2009, Karen said:

That is AWESOME. A timely reminder to myself not to let it all get to me.

The problem I see is how to overcome the very human tendency to cling to self-righteousness. I’m not sure all that many people can let go of their sense of superiority (in the case of the thin) or self-loathing (in the case of the fat) long enough to really internalize this message.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 9:55 am

5 On October 7th, 2009, Piffle said:

Yep, I bounced with glee when I read it. Made a thread about it at Shapely Proses ning site, not that I did much more than point to it.

Anyway, good to see it out in the more mainstream media.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 10:31 am

6 On October 7th, 2009, Liza said:

I’m going to blog about this for school later. We’ll see how that goes.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 10:40 am

7 On October 7th, 2009, Cute Bruiser said:

Freakin’ FINALLY. Someone decides to play connect the dots to learn what we have all known for some time; being fat doesn’t make you sick, STRESSING about your fat makes you sick, AND THE YO-YO DIETING. GOOD MORNING.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 11:37 am

8 On October 7th, 2009, Entangled said:

I really liked that article. Definitely agree 100%, though I think he didn’t even touch on other negative results of the obesity crisis. I can’t recall where I’ve seen it, but I know I have read that the anti-obesity shaming messages tend to have much more of an effect on those who are either already thin or only a few pounds overweight and can cause people to over-exercise and under-eat in response to the shaming messages.

Frankly, I feel that it’s inappropriate to shame anyone, no matter their size and no matter their behavior. I’m not saying what he left out is more important than what he said, it’s just that I think most of the messaging misses its target (which it shouldn’t even be targeting anyway) and increases the risk for disordered behavior in all groups. (in crappy anecdotal navel-gazing research, I’ve definitely noticed that seeing those messages affect me that way)

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 11:57 am

9 On October 7th, 2009, GeekGirlsRule said:

Wonderful. I will be linking this multiple places.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 12:26 pm

10 On October 7th, 2009, Ashley said:

Great post! Definitely something to think about.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

11 On October 7th, 2009, rachel with a little "r" said:

but the people who hate fatties DON’T want to “fight obesity,” they just hate fat people. It’s true. If fatties all committed mass suicide on the same day, I truly believe the haters wouldn’t have a problem with it, as long as we were out of view. most aren’t misguided people whose hearts are in the right place, they just plain out hate. So…of course they’re not going to let up on the shaming and hating, because that’s not the real issue here. The real issue is that they are bigots.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

12 On October 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

but the people who hate fatties DON’T want to “fight obesity,” they just hate fat people.

It’s true that fat hatred is at the root of many anti-obesity campaigns, but I don’t think that all those engaged in the “war on obesity” are bigots. There are many, like the Rudd Center, who truly believe obesity to be a public health and even a social justice issue.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

13 On October 7th, 2009, sarahbyrdd said:

Excellent!

Though I have to admit to snickering when I read this: “For some reason, though, the health effects of being short are worse for men than they are for women.”

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 4:25 pm

14 On October 7th, 2009, Shannon Russell said:

Great article. I hadn’t thought of the effects that stress would have on those who feel so much pressure to conform. My uncle was in excellent shape (body builder type) when he had a heart attack. It was most likely due to stress.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but I at least have better control over my stress than my weight.

Peace,
Shannon

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 6:29 pm

15 On October 7th, 2009, Jackie said:

Daniel Engbar RRRUUULLLEEESSSS!!!

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

16 On October 7th, 2009, FatNSassy said:

I hope more Digg members vote for it and include their opinions under the Digg comments.

posted on October 7th, 2009 at 8:55 pm

17 On October 9th, 2009, keshmeshi said:

Not that I specifically disagree with this, but the study seems to be running into problems with correlation vs. causation, or at least possibly attributing causation to the wrong thing. Is there anything else about obesity that can cause increased levels of cytokines? Can obese people be experiencing increased stress that has nothing to do with being obese? As just one example, obesity is very common among the poor. Poor people have so many stressors in their lives, obesity seems like the least of them.

posted on October 9th, 2009 at 12:11 am

18 On October 9th, 2009, keshmeshi said: