Often, people say that being fat is unhealthy and not the ideal body type on the basis of fitness, but in reality, these so called “facts” are only assumptions. There's no evidence that fat people are unhealthy. There are zero diseases that only obese people get, and there are many diseases that obese people get at a lower rate than thin persons. Furthermore, people with hypertension, diabetes, and other "obesity-related" illnesses often have healthier blood sugar and blood pressure readings with routine changes that cause very little to no weight loss, signifying that fat itself isn’t the main cause of these problems. In fact, the world's largest study found the maximum life expectancy in the group of people 60-75 pounds overweight by current
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There are four main conceptions that revolve around obesity; Body weight isn’t a physiologically controlled variable, it is developed by eating habits. It could be set to any desired level without acquiring severe health issues in the process. Weighing more than a certain standard creates a health hazard and efforts to lose weight should be made. Body shape which reflects the location of the dominant fat deposits, may have a much more important effect on a person's health than his or her overall weight. (Flatt, 2001, p.421) Others believe that obesity is always harmful and should be dealt with immediately. American Medical Association’s (AMA) Common Science and Health Committee recommended against defining obesity as a disease, the AMA moved forward. Even though it is not a medical disease and is not always harmful, it still requires medical intervention (2013). I oppose this as, again, this shows how little we know about obesity and its harmful effects, or whether obesity is harmful at all. The Observation that people with a lot of body weight seem to have more health issues relative to people with lesser body weight, has led to a common belief that being fat means being unhealthy. This is the one of the main causes for the misconceptions about obesity that exist. It’s not the fat that causes the problems, it’s the lack of …show more content…
According to a study of women between the ages of 25-45 in the United States, 21% of men and 67% of women are trying to lose weight; 53% of dieters are already at a healthy weight and are still trying to lose weight. (YWCA, 2008, p.4). However, some people may argue that this desire to be thin, has led us to engross in unhealthy consumption, like gorging on unhealthy food, thus increasing obesity. In fact, Statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997-March 2009, show that in early 2009, 27.2 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and older were obese. This marked a dramatic increase from 19.4 percent in 1997. (NHIS, 2009) I disagree with this generalization. When the idea of how being obese is the main cause for life threatening diseases and not considered as attractive, is advertised by not only the media but also medical establishments, people start believing that only one size is best for all: thin. This results in people developing eating disorders due to their new found obsession with being thin. They find extremely unhealthy and risky ways of shedding weight like pills and surgeries, and maintain harsh diets instead of eating carelessly. It’s been found that 35% of “occasional dieters” progress into pathological dieting, (disordered eating) and as many as 25%, advance to full-blown eating disorders (Philadelphia Eating Disorder Examiner,
There are four main conceptions that revolve around obesity; Body weight isn’t a physiologically controlled variable, it is developed by eating habits. It could be set to any desired level without acquiring severe health issues in the process. Weighing more than a certain standard creates a health hazard and efforts to lose weight should be made. Body shape which reflects the location of the dominant fat deposits, may have a much more important effect on a person's health than his or her overall weight. (Flatt, 2001, p.421) Others believe that obesity is always harmful and should be dealt with immediately. American Medical Association’s (AMA) Common Science and Health Committee recommended against defining obesity as a disease, the AMA moved forward. Even though it is not a medical disease and is not always harmful, it still requires medical intervention (2013). I oppose this as, again, this shows how little we know about obesity and its harmful effects, or whether obesity is harmful at all. The Observation that people with a lot of body weight seem to have more health issues relative to people with lesser body weight, has led to a common belief that being fat means being unhealthy. This is the one of the main causes for the misconceptions about obesity that exist. It’s not the fat that causes the problems, it’s the lack of …show more content…
According to a study of women between the ages of 25-45 in the United States, 21% of men and 67% of women are trying to lose weight; 53% of dieters are already at a healthy weight and are still trying to lose weight. (YWCA, 2008, p.4). However, some people may argue that this desire to be thin, has led us to engross in unhealthy consumption, like gorging on unhealthy food, thus increasing obesity. In fact, Statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997-March 2009, show that in early 2009, 27.2 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and older were obese. This marked a dramatic increase from 19.4 percent in 1997. (NHIS, 2009) I disagree with this generalization. When the idea of how being obese is the main cause for life threatening diseases and not considered as attractive, is advertised by not only the media but also medical establishments, people start believing that only one size is best for all: thin. This results in people developing eating disorders due to their new found obsession with being thin. They find extremely unhealthy and risky ways of shedding weight like pills and surgeries, and maintain harsh diets instead of eating carelessly. It’s been found that 35% of “occasional dieters” progress into pathological dieting, (disordered eating) and as many as 25%, advance to full-blown eating disorders (Philadelphia Eating Disorder Examiner,