Normalisation of 'plus-size' risks hidden danger of obesity, study finds (Read OP)

[Lentic]

You can tell people they look super beautiful and they should accept themselves, but you'll be an accomplice to their potential death. Obesity, as opposed to things like height, muscle mass, or facial features, is not a physical trait, but instead a disease that comes as a result of poor choices, especially when it comes to eating habits.

Normalizing obesity is another way of normalizing self harm. Just as we try to help people who, for example, cut their wrists and thighs instead of providing them with clothes with Velcro patches for easy access to the mentioned areas, we should make an effort to help fat and obese people, instead of pampering them and even going as far as grouping them with people with physical disabilities like missing limbs and other.

The fact obesity has become the norm in some countries doesn't mean the condition is any less dangerous.

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I agree, but it's not about pampering or not pampering. I think most of obesity is caused by ignorance and bad habits rather than sheer choice. We need to get better at pointing out where these people are going wrong and showing them the proper way to be healthy. A large problem is that right now people are just pointing at the problem and blaming it on the person rather than actually trying to properly inform them.

If you ask an obese person what healthy habits look like, they will most likely have no clue. They simply lack a point of reference.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

Yup...losing weight is actually really simple:

(1) Dramatically lower your portion sizes. Eat 1/3rd of what you used to.
(2) You'll be starving every single night, but that's normal. Your stomach is so bloated and stretched from obesity that it thinks massive portions are normal, and normal portions are starvation levels...but that's not the case.
(3) With time, your stomach will shrink dramatically and those "tiny portions" will fill you right up.


Here's a simple barometer: if you're fat and you feel full, you've eaten way too much.

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It's simple but not easy. That's the problem. Most fat people know they are eating like trash, but it's addictive and hard to quit.

Not to mention exercising is harder the bigger you get, and it's a no brainer most people can't do it.

I believe I saw a study that said 1% of those that lose weight keep it off. This isn't some quick fix thing.

 

[Deleted member 835]

I agree, but it's not about pampering or not pampering. I think most of obesity is caused by ignorance and bad habits rather than sheer choice. We need to get better at pointing out where these people are going wrong and showing them the proper way to be healthy. A large problem is that right now people are just pointing at the problem and blaming it on the person rather than actually trying to properly inform them.

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Large amount of it being overweight these days is sadly due to mental health issues not being dealt with. I can see it being the main problem in the not to distance future.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

The solution is to tell the people the fucking truth even if it hurts their feelings. Being fat is bad, end of story.

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Ah, yes. How many times has calling someone a fat fuck resulted in prolonged weight loss? Because I'm waiting.

 

[Deleted member 176]

Sure, it's possible there was an error but what I'm saying is I've had my body fat measured 4 different times during that span by three different people using two different methods and the results were mostly the same, with that in mind the probability of there being any significant error should drop considerably. Three times it measured sub 6%, and one other time it was 7% but I was in middle school at the time, going through high school and early college it was measured at 5%. So again, sure anything is possible but the chances of repeated error by multiple different testers and testing methods is less likely.

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There's no way, unless you're some kind of X-man. To even get to 7% you need a rigorous calorie counting and exercise routine. At 5% you're a Stardust Crusaders character.

 

[Croc Man]

It's not just underestimating weight but how much they eat, marketing and the portion sizes when eating out must add to that. Apparently people are typically underestimating their consumption by about 34%

I assume that source is good as it's based on a report from public health England
https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritioninthenews/new-reports/caloriereduction.html

Personally I hate seeing labels on things like cakes where the nutritional information says per 1/8th when realistically nobody eats a slice that small, misleading labelling like that shouldn't be legal. Same as things likes salads that sound all healthy but have more fat than a big mac. If people eat them thinking they've chose the better option/lesser evil and it doesn't help or even makes things worse then no wonder they get demotivated.

As for the why does it matter if somebody is happy being obese, it effects all of us...
"As part of the development of the Calorie Reduction Programme, calculations were made about the potential economic benefits of different levels of calorie reduction. It was estimated that a 20% reduction in calories from everyday foods, if achieved over five years, could prevent over 35 thousand premature deaths, save the NHS £4.5 billion in healthcare costs and save social care costs of around £4.48 billion over 25 years."

Just think if that money could be spent elsewhere in the NHS, improving underfunded mental health areas, being able to prescribe live saving medication for free, the time it would free up to get appointments quicker...
Smokers and drinkers pay tax on what harms them but it's not fair to do that on all but the very worse food and drink, its a tough issue to tackle.

Btw as I've seen access to exercise mentioned a few times I've known several obese people that got free gym and/or swimming sessions, it really helped my cousin. I don't know how common that is though.

 

[Deleted member 835]

There's no way, unless you're some kind of X-man. To even get to 7% you need a rigorous calorie counting and exercise routine. At 5% you're a Stardust Crusaders character.

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I'm just under 10% body fat. Train 6 days a week, also work as a PT and eat mega healthy (apart from cheat day). There is no way I could get down to 5% unless I gave up work

 

[Deleted member 835]

It's not just underestimating weight but how much they eat, marketing and the portion sizes when eating out must add to that. Apparently people are typically underestimating their consumption by about 34%

I assume that source is good as it's based on a report from public health England
https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritioninthenews/new-reports/caloriereduction.html

Personally I hate seeing labels on things like cakes where the nutritional information says per 1/8th when realistically nobody eats a slice that small, misleading labelling like that shouldn't be legal. Same as things likes salads that sound all healthy but have more fat than a big mac. If people eat them thinking they've chose the better option/lesser evil and it doesn't help or even makes things worse then no wonder they get demotivated.

As for the why does it matter if somebody is happy being obese, it effects all of us...
"As part of the development of the Calorie Reduction Programme, calculations were made about the potential economic benefits of different levels of calorie reduction. It was estimated that a 20% reduction in calories from everyday foods, if achieved over five years, could prevent over 35 thousand premature deaths, save the NHS £4.5 billion in healthcare costs and save social care costs of around £4.48 billion over 25 years."

Just think if that money could be spent elsewhere in the NHS, improving underfunded mental health areas, being able to prescribe live saving medication for free, the time it would free up to get appointments quicker...
Smokers and drinkers pay tax on what harms them but it's not fair to do that on all but the very worse food and drink, its a tough issue to tackle.

Btw as I've seen access to exercise mentioned a few times I've known several obese people that got free gym and/or swimming sessions, it really helped my cousin. I don't know how common that is though.

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Problem is being overweight/mentally ill often comes as a package. Proper mental healthcare would stop a great number of people becoming overweight

 

[TheWickedSoul]

Large amount of it being overweight these days is sadly due to mental health issues not being dealt with. I can see it being the main problem in the not to distance future.

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People in this thread are making it worse on mental health with post saying we shouldn't be happy if we are plus sized or overweight.

 

[hendersonhank]

excercise is essential to lose weight..

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Exercise is essential to fitness. It is absolutely not essential to weight loss.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Personally i think the trick is obviously fat folk should just call themselves involuntarily fat, infats.... then they'll get more sympathy.

 

[hendersonhank]

People in this thread are making it worse on mental health with post saying we shouldn't be happy if we are plus sized or overweight.

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I think they're saying no one should be happy ABOUT being overweight or plus-sized. Not that overweight people shouldn't be happy.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Fat tax actually sounds like a good idea.

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Sure if you like making things worse.

 

[Deleted member 835]

People in this thread are making it worse on mental health with post saying we shouldn't be happy if we are plus sized or overweight.

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Because many people don't want to see the problem that courses so many to be overweight. They would rather deem them lazy and say they eat shit all the time.

Over half of the people I train have mental health issues. I try to get people to go get therapy as part of their fitness regime. There is a free therapy place where I live, so give them their details ( if they want). PT's will more and more have to know the signs of mental health probs in a person. Like I said above untreated mental health problems will be the biggest course of being overweight soon

I think they're saying no one should be happy ABOUT being overweight or plus-sized. Not that overweight people shouldn't be happy.

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Sadly there are loads of shit posts in this thread

 

[Putzballs]

I have not yet heard a better solution than to let the individual decide themselves:

Do you want to keep your weight?
Calories in = calories out.

Do you want to lose weight?
Calories in < calories out.

Do you want to gain weight?
Calories in > calories out.

Just eat a balanced diet and follow the above. Of course, this relies on people wanting to inform themselves of what a "balanced diet" is...

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Balanced diet is the key to this example. Eating 2000 calories a day in chips is not the same as eating 2000 calories a day in broccoli

 

[Zoe]

I'm just under 10% body fat. Train 6 days a week, also work as a PT and eat mega healthy (apart from cheat day). There is no way I could get down to 5% unless I gave up work

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It's relevant that he's counting measurements during puberty.

 

[Bashteee]

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[VenomousCoffee]

The amount of people coming after plus-size people in this thread is ridiculous. Certainly almost all the people doing so have never had a weight issue otherwise you would be more sympathetic. Grow up.

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I've been reading the thread and so far I've resisted posting, but this is some ignorant shit. I know that people can control their body composition because I've learned (the hard way) to do it myself.

Other people don't necessarily disagree with you because they are bad people. Grow up.

 

[ned_ballad]

People can be as fat as they wan't to be, as long as I'm not paying for their healthcare.

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The healthy will always subsidize the sick, that's literally the way insurance works.

 

[whitehawk]

I think we need more nude beaches. Clothes allow us to cover up parts of our body we aren't happy with and ignore it. I've been to a nude beach now, and also rode downtown Toronto naked on a bike. Doing so was liberating, but also made me realize I'm not in as good shape as I thought I was, clothing sort of hides that fact and makes me look more fit than I actually am.

 

[aSqueakyLime]

Can't say much more than what's already been said. Don't treat larger people badly, but also recognise that it's a harmful lifestyle and be encouraging to get slimmer.

Im 9 years old and Im pissed off by peoples attitudes so forgive me. How about we start over? People aren't magically unhealthy or lesser just because their bigger than someone. There is an obvious line where being overweight becomes dangerous but to put that on people simple just for being thicker is ignorant as fuck.

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You being 9 makes a lot of sense considering your post history.

 

[Deleted member 4246]

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[The Almighty Tria]

The amount of people coming after plus-size people in this thread is ridiculous. Certainly almost all the people doing so have never had a weight issue otherwise you would be more sympathetic. Grow up.

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Give me a damn break. There's a difference between going after fat people and talking about the dangers and risks and epidemic going on in this country. My nephew, who is 8, is so fat and unhealthy he runs out of breath just walking up my front porch steps (which is literally just 4 steps). This shit is not acceptable.

And yes, I have had a weight issue (I got up to 200 at 5'9", but I have a very thin frame so it was much worse than it sounds, my normal weight beforehand was 135). Many of the excuses used in this thread are the same excuses I (and millions of other people use everyday) use to say everything is fine and to keep from losing weight. Creating this narrative that everyone is coming after fat people is nonsense. It's a genuine crisis in this country.

 

[Don Fluffles]

I agree that we shouldn't mistreat people based on weight. But if this is true, we should make a distinction between fat shaming and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

Of course, it might be hard to tell if someone has obesity through lifestyle choices or to losing the genetic lottery.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

Then why do vegans get so much shit if this is the tone we're taking when addressing obesity?

 

[Deleted member 4246]

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[AyaisMUsikWhore]

But how are you supposed to fight obesity when we don't have portion control, neither has it ever been taught. How about the fact that healthy foods cost more than cheap bad food?
How about the fact that our health care system is so fucked that people can't afford insurance to get the small incentives some health insurance providers give to getting a gym membership?

Or even how about the fact that most people just aren't built that same as others? What about people with thyroid issues that are obese because of that?

Until these issues are addressed, then I'm still on the body positivity train. This country has allowed normalization, and body shaming just isn't the way.

 

[kamorra]

Since January 1st of this year I've lost 45kg. 1500 calories of whatever I want a day and 18/6 intermittent fasting. No sport. Losing weight is never easy but it's also not that hard.

 

[Deleted member 4246]

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[whitehawk]

I'm reminded of a quote from super size me.

This guy was talking about how the culture around smoking has changed so much, that someone may be able to say (albeit still rude) "Hey why are you smoking that cigarette don't you know it's going to kill you".

Then he asks the question, when will that be acceptable, to say "why are you eating that big Mac don't you know what's in there you're killing yourself!".

But of an exaggeration, but I think the point is still interesting. I'd rather become a smoker than become overweight, but one is looked down upon more than the other.

 

[Pekola]

I find it interesting that people who otherwise seem to grasp systemic issues on these forums like poverty, racism, etc. think the solution to the obesity epidemic is all bootstraps.

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It's baffling. Suddenly everyone's an expert in losing weight and anecdotes are the solution to everything.

 

[HyperFerret]

There needs to be help in the food industry to get people more motivated to buy healthier options. Make water cheaper than soda, veggies cheaper than processed sugar.

There has to be something :/

Part of the problem is the media as well, restaurants bragging about how much damn food you can get. They show plates full of meat and potatoes, or fast food showing two burgers, fries and a large soda as a "complete" meal. There's never any advertising showing how many meals a single bag of rice can make or how much farther you can take your money preparing meals vs buying something premade.

There are many, many factors to people becoming unhealthy levels of weight, but I think stuff like this is the most damaging because it starts at a young age to brainwashing people into normalizing these portion sizes and practices.

 

[RulkezX]

Was all over the news in the UK recently that some big stores were redoing their sizing because folk were feeling bad buying big sizes.

I work in a very male dominated field and there's always a bit of "oh I'm not fat if I can fit in X waist jeans like I could when I was 20". There was mass panic recently when I told them if they measured their 34" waist jeans they find they were closer to 40".

The whole country seems down with being fat and unhealthy , especially Scotland where drink is a huge issue in top of the weight. It's actually scary seeing the size of kids at my boys primary school ( not helped by an almost complete removal of competitive sports / pe in the school curriculum.

 

[Deleted member 9237]

But how are you supposed to fight obesity when we don't have portion control, neither has it ever been taught.

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What is there to teach? That eating more makes you gain weight?

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

If you are obese, It is to maintain long term weight loss. You need to get people from not moving at all for various reasons to walking around for some time. See my post here Normalisation of 'plus-size' risks hidden danger of obesity, study finds

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I went from 230 lbs to 175 without working out in 6 months. I just counted calories and did what myfitnesspal told me to do.

What is there to teach? That eating more makes you gain weight?

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You can educate them on calories, macros, and micro nutrients. Ge them into the habbit of logging in daily to apps like myfitnesspal. Before i started losing weight i had literally no idea what i was doing, i knew Pizza was bad and fruit was good, but i had no idea why.

 

[Jombie]

People still don't take diabetes seriously.

 

[Deleted member 25108]

People still don't take diabetes seriously.

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Yeah. What I find crazy is that, no offense to anyone here, but Americans are the worst when it comes to handwaving away the risks of obesity, yet it costs them far more financially to ignore them.

If I develop diabetes, I mean, it sucks but I'm covered by the NHS. At most I might need to pay £7.50 for my weekly meds.

Diabietes costs Americans thousands, even when insured. But body positivity is more important. Ridiculous.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Personally I hate seeing labels on things like cakes where the nutritional information says per 1/8th when realistically nobody eats a slice that small, misleading labelling like that shouldn't be legal. Same as things likes salads that sound all healthy but have more fat than a big mac. If people eat them thinking they've chose the better option/lesser evil and it doesn't help or even makes things worse then no wonder they get demotivated.

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Fuckin' this so hard. I bought a 22oz bottle of lemonade because it's hot out and that sounded good, right? Got back from a hike.

23g of sugar. That's a lot but way less than a can of coke.

But the bottle has almost three fucking servings in it. So it actually is a can of coke if you down the whole thing, which is what I"d normally do. Like I'm portion controlling a $1.50 bottle of lemonade. That's nonsense. Tell me there's over 50g of sugar in there and just be honest about it.

 

[Deleted member 6573]

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[Deleted member 9486]

What is there to teach? That eating more makes you gain weight?

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How to cook, what proper potions sizes are, what balance of macronutrients you should be eating for your goals (or even understanding what macronutrients are), how to read nutrition labels and look out for misleading serving sides etc.

Most people lack more than very basic information on what's healthy or not, what appropriate portions of different foods are etc. Much less the knowledge and skills to buy a week worth of balanced nutrition at the grocery store and how to cook healthy and tasty meals.

 

[Nerokis]

Indeed all parts of the world have increased incidence of obesity, due to sedentary lifestyles and whatnot, but the extent to which it proliferates is very variable (also within a country). For a pretty significant part it is also a social disease of changing standards.

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How do you quantify this? The US has long been a poster boy for obesity, but surely that had nothing to do with "changing standards." Considering all our particular shortcomings and eccentricities, and the fact that our obesity rates correlate positivity with poverty, I'm not sure there's much room to blame the variety of our obesity epidemic on our being some beacon of body positivity.

China is going through a rather bad obesity epidemic, too, but I doubt it's because of the sudden burst of plus-size popularity.

Same with India.

There are obviously powerful forces that transcend culture driving this. A body positivity movement that has made very uneven gains at best is probably the last thing you should be focusing on.

Even in the realm of changing standards, body positivity efforts should probably rank very, very low. You don't see a lot of magazine covers with plus-size models. You do see a lot of obese people walking around stores, though. Unconscious forces are likely much more important than conscious ones.

 

[Jombie]

Yeah. What I find crazy is that, no offense to anyone here, but Americans are the worst when it comes to handwaving away the risks of obesity, yet it costs them far more financially to ignore them.

If I develop diabetes, I mean, it sucks but I'm covered by the NHS. At most I might need to pay £7.50 for my weekly meds.

Diabietes costs Americans thousands, even when insured. But body positivity is more important. Ridiculous.

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It can be hard to feel good about yourself when you have liver, renal, heart issues, neuropathy, vision loss, having to sit in a dialysis clinic several hours a week. And yeah, even if you do have insurance here, the medications, insulin will cost you a fortune, but eat what you want cause your beautiful.

 

[Deleted member 6230]

If you're a black man and you can't walk down the street at night without a white woman grasping her purse and walking the other way, it's very hard to rise above that even if you're trying your best.

If you're dirt poor and don't have money for college and you're stuck in a dead-end menial job with no prospects, it's very hard to rise above that even if you're trying your best.

If you're trans and you get bullied and mocked and discriminated against all the time in your conservative southern town even from your own family, it's very hard to rise above that even if you're trying your best.


If you're fat? Stop eating. You don't even have to DO anything...just eat like a bird, and you lose weight. Spend LESS money, and you lose weight. Go out to eat LESS, and you lose weight.

I understand there are a tremendous amount of reasons why people don't stop eating their enormous portions (ignorance, cravings, they believe some BS like "it's genetics," they use the feeling of being full as a comfort, mental health issues, complacency, they think the feeling of being starving at a proper calorie diet will kill them, etc.)

But at the end of the day, this is one of the easiest systemic issues to overcome. ANYONE can stop eating. ANYONE can cut their portion sizes down to a third of what they used to eat. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, you can do it with discipline and perseverance. My entire family is massive and I used to be extremely morbidly obese for my whole life, but I lost hundreds of pounds and I'm so happy I did it. If I can do it, so can everyone else.

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"One of the easiest systemic issues to overcome" indicates that you lack understand of what systemic issues are.

Question why do you think there's a huge correlation between obesity poverty and education? We're you even aware of that?

 

[Deleted member 25108]

"One of the easiest systemic issues to overcome" indicates that you lack understand of what systemic issues are.

Question why do you think there's a huge correlation between obesity poverty and education? We're you even aware of that?

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In the US.

Let's not pretend being poor or having no education leads to being fat.

Unless we are talking about education about food which is another issue entirely.

 

[Deleted member 6230]

In the US.

Let's not pretend being poor or having no education leads to being fat.

Unless we are talking about education about food which is another issue entirely.

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I said obesity correlates with poverty and lack of education.

 

[pewpewtora]

Well, yeah it is extremely unhealthy to be obese, but it's also shitty when I see people try to equate being "plus-sized" to being obese. My sister is plus-sized, but regularly eats healthy food and works out. She just happened to be born with a curvier body. I think body-positivity for the most part is great, but we shouldn't tip toe around the truth to people who are obese.

 

[Deleted member 25108]

I said obesity correlates with poverty and lack of education.

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Yes and that is still a problem that is more prevalent in a country like US where even the poorest are richer than at least 45% of the planet.

Even people living in poverty can make better food choices or at the very least eat less.

Education and poverty also correlate with smoking too. So what?

 

[Deleted member 6573]

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[FTF]

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Yeah intermittent fasting is what I've found works best for me when trying to lose weight. I've lost about 30 lbs in the last year (put 5 back on last month as I got lazy *grumble*) but I'm getting serious again as I want to lose another 25lbs over the course of the next few months to hit my goal weight.

 

[Deleted member 835]

Every single person can overcome obesity with discipline and education. Perhaps we will get to a point in our society where we as a collective can shun obesity the same way we shunned cigarettes. It's a solvable issue in our society. Hell, it wasn't even an issue until like 40 years ago.

But every single black man in the USA cannot overcome casual racism no matter how hard they try. It's just not comparable.

Obesity is self-inflicted, but other systemic issues are inflicted upon people...that makes them so much more difficult to overcome. For example, after 50 years of civil rights movements there are still countless incidences of racism in the USA.

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Not all obesity is self inflicted