Fat Acceptance Sucks
At least it does according to this article, where health care professionals are worried that some fat people “now seem to think their weight is just fine.” WELL GOD FORBID.
So you look at people around you or maybe you hear news stories that now two thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese, and you think, oh I’m not doing so bad, overweight is now normal.
But they hasten to add that it’s really about healthy choices.
Dr. Sharon Herring works with obese patients at Temple University Hospital. She tries to strike a balance between body acceptance and encouraging women to lose weight. She usually avoids setting numerical weight loss goals, and instead talks about making healthy choices. But if patients are concerned about the way they look, she’ll go with it:
So if the patient says “My biggest motivation is fitting into size eight pair of pants, and that’s really their biggest motivation, we’ll go with that and we’ll set goals around fitting into that size 8 pair of pants again. But I think to start we always want people to realize that where they are, whether they are at a size 14 or a size 21, are that’s beautiful, too.
Well, it’s good that she’s at least throwing “body acceptance” in there somewhere. It’s better than nothing.
Thanks to Sarah for the tip!
Posted by mo pie
Yeah, it’s not like being “overweight” is associated with living longer or anything. Stupid fatties! Get into those tiny pants!
There is so much logic fail here. “All sizes are beautiful, but don’t start believing that because then you won’t want to lose weight.”
Gah.
They are really afraid of losing those profits. Years ago I read an
article on how attractive bariatrics is to doctors. First, there is
no need for special training. Anyone with an MD can call themselves
a bariatrican. The profits are huge and it is far less stressful than
being a regular GP. Since the patients almost always blame themselves for weight regain, there are few malpractice lawsuits.
It is the lazy doctors dream. No wonder the doc in the article
wants to protect her easy money!
Did anyone else catch this?
“But I think to start we always want people to realize that where they are, whether they are at a size 14 or a size 21, are that’s beautiful, too.”
Where would one buy clothing that is size “21″??? The last time I looked, (and I wear a size 30/32) 22 was the going size. You know…even numbers? I DO remember seeing 20 1/2, etc. though.
The other problem I had with her statement was that she seems to think her patients are stupid…in that…fitting into a size 8 actually does mean you need to get to a certain weight range…..and that involves numbers.
On the other hand, I am hopeful hearing an actual medical doctor implying any size is still beautiful, because that promotes acceptance and can reduce the shame factor so many of us live with.
It’s a baby step.
No, paying lip service to FA is actually *worse* than none at all. Because the patient won’t hear a word of that FA pandering “oh any size is beautiful.” The only message that matters is “yes, you won’t be ‘healthy’ until you’ve dropped X pounds.”
@Regina
I’ve owned size 21 garments. Off sizes are USA JUNIOR sizes. Juniors plus can run 11-13……17-19-21-23-25 etc
Ah, women’s clothing sizes–they make no sense at all!
Maybe the “size 14 or a size 21″ comment was meant to include shape diversity, as well as size! Even sizes are cut for more hourglass figures, and odd sizes for more straight-up-and-down ones.
I’m new to discovering FA, and its difficult to overcome a lifetime of messages that being thin in infinitely better than being fat. I’m getting there, but it’s difficult. I imagine that FA or Body Acceptance must be even more difficult if one’s professional training is reinforcing these messages that fat is unhealthy, that losing weight is a normal goal for a fat person. So I am glad to see a shred of body acceptance in the medical profession, glad to see that some practitioners focus on health than on numbers on a scale. For me, it is good enough for now. It represents some progress, even if it is just a little.
I agree.
SIZE acceptance, however, rocks socks. Never liked how the label implies that we’re only about fat people. Just because I’m fat doesn’t mean I don’t notice how frustrating the “anorexic” jokes are for thin people.
Anyway, BIG SURPRISE! The news completely misidentifies what fat/size acceptance is. Nothing new.
I think she supports body acceptance, but also recognizes that no matter their size or how happy they are with it, being healthy is the most important thing.
Somebody, somewhere, sometime has to say really loud, over and over again, that being overweight does not mean being unhealthy. A “health risk” is not the same as having a disease. Really thin women are at risk for osteoporosis. So let’s target them for that? People who sleep around are at risk for a zillion different problems–so let’s target them? The single largest prescription group in the US is antidepressants. And depression is associated with a host of other problems. So let’s target the depressed?
“no matter their size or how happy they are with it, being healthy is the most important thing.”
Then you are implying that only a specific size can be healthy, which is false.
@Talbot. My first thought when you said that someone needs to be saying really loudly that overweight does not equal unhealthy was those albino shouting gorillas from Futuruma that shout “LOVE MOM!”
Anyway, BWA HA HA HA AH HA this article is ridiculous. I agree that lip service to it is worse than not mentioning it at all.
“Then you are implying that only a specific size can be healthy, which is false.”
That’s definitely not what I was trying to imply. Of course being healthy comes in all sizes.
[Blah blah I am a troll]
Mylea, your attitude is FAR uglier than any fat chick I’ve ever seen.