Fat/Size Acceptance

Sardine On that note, I read an interesting article on bulimia a few years ago which argued that although bulimia and anorexia are often thought to be two sides of the same coin, in fact, that's misleading, and bulimics actually have more in common with alcoholics and drug addicts in terms of triggers and behaviour patterns.

Sorry for multi posting there is so much here.

Totally agree that food and alcohol are similar in many ways. They give a short term high and cause long term high. People get addicted. The points upthread about people like carers eating because they can't drink or take drugs = very true I'm sure.

Many people have an "addictive" side and they will become addicted to what is available to them. Most pleasuarable activities have an effect on brain chemistry so if you get your high from betting or shagging or boozing or eating, it is possible to get addicted and I think that these things should be viewed in the same was. Also see addicts stopping one addiction and simply replacing it with another (hopefully less harmful) one.

It's a complicated old business.

Re people being fat in the older days and that was thought of as good

Fat then when lots of people were starving would not have been obese as per these days but fatter than the poor starving people ie probably not actually "fat" so much as healthy and well fed

Also life expectancy was much lower so even if you were massive you'd likely be dead from disease or whatever before the fatness got the better of you.

You can't compare then with now. The fashion has changed for a reason. It's so as not to look poor. What poor people look like has changed in the UK.

Couple of quick points havven't read whole thread

The idea that fat people eat all the time / loads / crap is incorrect.

They have got fat at some point, maybe over along period of time. Then to maintain that size they eat a "normal" diet - calories in = calories out. If they kept eating stacks they would keep getting fatter and fatter. It is initially counter-intuitive but correct when you apply a little logic for a couple of secs.

Also agree with george orwell about when you're down for whatever reason, green lentil salad simply doesn't appeal as much as chips. There is actually a "cholesterol high" apparently which means that when you have foods with lots of cholesterol you get happy in your brain. This includes prawns and avocado as well as things which are thought of as fatty.

got to work now will read rest of thread and be back in a bit is very interesting

Obesity is easy to measure and see, that's why it is being focused on in the campaign. The people paying for it want something they can measure and report on.

I agree with dittany. Jamie Oliver's message is (and always has been) about food being healthy and enjoyable.

It's not about diets and punishment and demonising fat people, it's about giving children the opportunity to grow up understanding and loving food and cooking.

Our environment has moved too fast for us. We are programmed to overeat in times of plenty to have fat to see us through times of scarcity. However, in the west, calories are always cheap and plentiful. It's not surprising that obesity is on the rise. In fact, the surprising thing is that there aren't more fat people.

I think on balance it would be better to just accept that's the way it's going, and stick a tax on junk food to pay for all the additional diabetes/ joint problems/ heart attacks etc.

Nagging fat people about being fat doesn't seem to help. It just makes them depressed. It's not like everyone doesn't know that being fat isn't good for your health, but whilst the calories in vs calories out argument is probably basically correct, it doesn't take into account that food in our society has assumed a significance that goes way beyond simply a way to stay alive. it's at the heart of social functions, it's a reward, it's a comfort, it's a punishment. It's fucked up basically.

Oh boy, medical advice from a lawyer with a book to sell.

Now look up "rate of diabetes" and see what you find.

I completely agree with the comparisson between obesity and alcoholism.

I say this as a person who used to play netball for the county, run regularly, had a washboard stomach and a real passion for fitness and exercise. Fast forward 10 years and I am immobile, weigh in excess of 20stone and can only dream of fitting in the size 20 dress.

My weight crept up over the years as my grip on food spiraled out of control in much the same way an alcoholic loses control. It is a slow and painful way to kill yourself and one that effects not just you but your family and friends and everything you do. I am unable to look after myself and have to be cared for as does an alcoholic.

The journey you go on as a morbidly obese person is exactly the same as that of a severe alcoholic. Every over weight person or person who enjoys their food runs the risk of getting to my size and every person who likes a drink runs the risk of becoming an alcoholic.

On the up side I have just lost 3 stone recently and am more mobile than I have been for years I won't bow to societal pressures to become a size xy or z but am aiming for a healthy lifestyle. That is what should be promoted not body image.

jamie oliver gets on my nerves on a personal level - i feel he is preachy, and the people who are listening to his sermons are the converted.

i liked what he did in schools, of course if you are giving your childs nutrition to the school - the school should have a duty of care not to stuff your child with uttr processed, salted shit.

however this then became coupled with what parents provide, schools providing nurtritional information

lunchbox monitors not allowing a penguin ffs.

there is a clear cultural revolution that needs to take place. imo this requires investment in parents - on many levels, one of those being food

what i don't like is our school systems being abused in orwellian fashion for teachers time and precious resources to be compulsorily ploughed into a teaching healthy eating, when teachers should teach academia - and parents should teach healthy eating. parents can't do this if they don't know. if the infrastructure and learning and encouragement, if the carrott and the stick is not there.

non of this will ever be enforced of course.

I think taking Turkey Twizzler's off the menu is an excellent idea. Most school dinners were chips, chips and chips with perhaps a sausage roll on the side. My children now have a nice cooked meal every day using local ingreedients, more choice of dessert (fruit, yogurt or a cooked dessert such as apple crumble) and their food choices have expanded massively. Chips is a once a week food on Friday (fish and chips). I don't think their new menu screams 'diet' or 'be thin or else', it's just stopped being simply appalling non-food.

"So what can we take away from the most recent studies? If other scientists replicate the findings of the Swedish and Women?s Health Study-based reports, the message is clear if disconcerting: being overweight, even if you have sterling blood-cholesterol levels or a firm commitment to exercise, does increase your risk of heart disease, and you should probably try to lose the extra pounds."

well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/phys-ed-can-you-be-overweight-and-still-be-healthy

"Theala - I do not not accept your analogy. End of story. "

Oh right. Well, I think you're talking complete bollocks. End of story.

Gee, isn't this an interesting and respectful debate?

The Jamie Oliver petition is to encourage healthier foods in schools to stop children from becoming obese. Whatever you do as an adult is ultimately your responsibility. You can eat till you explode for all I fucking care. But inflicting obesity on children is morally wrong. End of story.

I think the fat = unhealthy link needs to be broken.

true to an extent but being very large in mass will create sluggishness etc I think there perhaps needs to be more of a balance?

Society has turned into an obesity witch hunt lately.