I was typing this up as a comment in the I'm a fat lady, in a thin ladies body diary, but I accidentally clicked away and lost it. So here it goes in diary form.
Having read the two diaries in question and the comments in both I have to say that both "sides" are engaging in the same form of demonizing. In the obesity diary commenters are deriding overweight people. In the counter diary the commenters are deeming just about anyone who would dare say that a fat person should take steps to get healthy is a crazed bigot who denies the existence of eating disorders. In my eye there is really no difference in the two "sides". Neither is working to finding the middle ground. Both are inflaming the other. I understand emotions and it is great when people are able to come together in support of each other, but it completely misses the issue.
I would definitely argue that it is possible to be on both "sides" of the argument. I know I am. I completely understand that an unhealthy focus on body image in our country is directly contributing to some very dangerous diseases. I understand that there are a great number of people who need help. However, I also understand that there is a very real obesity issue in this country. It is a combination of many issues which drive it, but for many people it does come down to living a healthy life style. There are many arguments one could make for living well. You could approach the issue from a dozen different angles.
We as a body can continue to conflate the issues of obesity, body image, and eating disorders as one big fiasco that no one is allowed to touch. Or we could discuss the issues which we can affect. I would throw out the eating disorder discussion concerning obesity for this diary since I find it highly unlikely that there are more than a few "deniers" here or people who would disagree that its a serious issue. So let us have better funding for health initiatives so that people with legitimate issues can get help. For the rest?
- Portions are absolutely out of control. I saw a commenter remark that there are some overweight people who eat similarly to people with a healthy bodyweight so obviously we have to consider metabolism etc. That is all well and good in my book, but I think it overlooks the point. Whether or not overweight people are eating as much as skinny people means nothing if the vast majority of us are still consuming much more than we need. We know it is hardwired in our brains to eat whatever is on our plate and culturally we certainly enforce it too. But there is a lot we could do to affect change in this area. It would certainly help some overweight people to realize that they eat poorly. It would help everyone. Let us all fight for better portion control instead of hating on everyone?
- Our modern lifestyle is having a double impact on our health. On one hand we have less and less time and therefore consume more and more "fast food" with little regard to the destructive effects it has on our health. I probably eat Chipotle 2-3x a week and you know, it shows [also this issue ties back into #1, a burrito there can feed you all day practically]! We have also abandoned most of the things that gave us even a moderate amount of exercise. Many of us live in suburban areas where there is no reason to walk. We work 8 hours a day and commute 2 more which is essentially all sit on your rear time. This all adds up to a very unhealthy society. Face it, if you cannot walk across a shopping mall parking lot without stopping to catch your breath you have a problem. And those jerks who said, "Go exercise and eat right" had a point in that case. It is incredibly unhealthy. This leads to my 3rd point.
- Obesity related costs are going to devastate our health system. High cholesterol. Diabetes. High blood pressure. You name it and it is a big problem. The vast majority here are for nationalized healthcare right? A big part of making it work economically is preventative care. That is going to mean combating the obesity issue on many fronts. It is going to mean taking a little bit of the blame [for those without actual disorders] and just doing what it takes to get healthier.
I am sure everyone could list dozens more reasons that we should all want to be healthy. That does not mean looking like an Abercrombie model or wearing a size 0. But that does mean taking some effort for many people. Including myself.