Obesity is bad for you and causes disease. This belief is so ingrained in our culture, and reinforced so consistently by medical experts, the media, the fitness industry, and everyone around us, that nobody stops to question it. Well, almost nobody. A few people have suggested that obesity may not actually be to blame for all the health problems it’s associated with.
One of them is Amy Farrell, professor of women’s and gender studies at Dickinson University, who appeared a couple of weeks ago on the
Colbert Report (of all places!) and pointed out that it’s possible to be fat and healthy, just as it’s possible to be thin and sick. By associating obesity with illness, Farrell argued, we are creating a kind of discrimination against fat people.
The fat acceptance movement is a topic for a future post. But as far as obesity and its connection to disease goes, Farrell could be on to something. Remember your logic studies? Just because two events occur simultaneously doesn’t mean one causes the other.
Look at it this way: the same thing that causes you to gain weight (that is, an unhealthy diet) can also cause you to develop diabetes. Both weight gain and diabetes are the
results of an unhealthy diet. Your excess pounds did not
cause the diabetes. Eating the wrong foods did. Trying to get rid of weight by going on a gimmicky crash diet does not address your real problem, which is not your weight, but the fact that your body is not getting the proper balance of foods.
Still confused? Consider that smoking stains your teeth and can cause lung cancer. Both stained teeth and lung cancer are the
results of smoking. If you develop lung cancer, it will not go away when you bleach your teeth.
It’s a small mental shift, but it could help you approach weight loss from a healthier perspective. For more reading on the subject, visit the
resource page of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA).
One of them is Amy Farrell, professor of women’s and gender studies at Dickinson University, who appeared a couple of weeks ago on the Colbert Report (of all places!) and pointed out that it’s possible to be fat and healthy, just as it’s possible to be thin and sick. By associating obesity with illness, Farrell argued, we are creating a kind of discrimination against fat people.
The fat acceptance movement is a topic for a future post. But as far as obesity and its connection to disease goes, Farrell could be on to something. Remember your logic studies? Just because two events occur simultaneously doesn’t mean one causes the other.
Look at it this way: the same thing that causes you to gain weight (that is, an unhealthy diet) can also cause you to develop diabetes. Both weight gain and diabetes are the results of an unhealthy diet. Your excess pounds did not cause the diabetes. Eating the wrong foods did. Trying to get rid of weight by going on a gimmicky crash diet does not address your real problem, which is not your weight, but the fact that your body is not getting the proper balance of foods.
Still confused? Consider that smoking stains your teeth and can cause lung cancer. Both stained teeth and lung cancer are the results of smoking. If you develop lung cancer, it will not go away when you bleach your teeth.
It’s a small mental shift, but it could help you approach weight loss from a healthier perspective. For more reading on the subject, visit the resource page of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA).