Fatshaming

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After a conversation with friends, and with obesity (especially in young people) becoming a bigger crisis than smoking in our society, am I unreasonable to think that as we villanise smoking and drinking, should we fat shame more to encourage people to change their lifestyles. It's certainly worked with reducing smoking rates. Don't attack me (I've lost 2 stone). Just wondering why we target smoking more than fast food?

In my case I needed an operation. I lost some weight before seeing the consultant. He was horrible and refused to operate until I lost weight. I asked GP for help but I didn't qualify for support. So I did VLC diet. Lost enough weight for op but had two visits to A and E due to severe pain. Looking back it was probably linked to diet. Had op and I was fat shamed by a other doctor in recovery. My BMI was probably 30 at that stage.
Did I learn anything from this experience and have I kept weight off? Of course not.
2 years later I weighed my highest ever. I am now back at my pre crash diet weight but I am doing it slowly and sensibly.
I am still proud of the fact I walk my obese body average 8 miles a day.

I weigh around 19st currently. I have been 12st 6lb which was my lightest weight as an adult. I am fat because I have a very disordered relationship with food for various complicated reasons which I could probably benefit from therapy to understand

This is what really annoys me about the medical profession. Anorexics are classed as having a disordered eating behaviour and given help. Overweight people are greedy and should be shamed (I remember Dr Christian doing exactly this to a woman on one Supersize vs Superskinny when she made a joke about how much she ate because she was so embarrassed at how bad it was. Put me right off him.)

But saying that, I think body acceptance has become too wrapped up with fat acceptance. Smokers might be able to run for a bus or lift weights, but science says eventually their smoking is likely to have damaging effects on their bodies. Being overweight (just like being underweight) is the same. Today you might be healthy but all the evidence is that in the long-term, it is damaging your body. No one should hate who they are or how they look but that doesn't mean we should embrace an unhealthy and potentially life-threatening body condition.

As someone who lost more than three and a half stone stone and struggles every day to keep it off, I think the NHS should be offering therapy and counselling rather than people bleating on about education. I know chocolate cakes are full of calories and sugar, but when I've had a bad day and I hate myself that's all I want. I need help to get through the bad day without a cake!

Help is what overweight people need. Not shaming.

Oh DO fuck Off.

So what is being said?

There is no answer? Because all the healthy info is out there. So education doesn't work. Shaming doesn't work. Penalising rhe whole of society by adding taxes or banning things doesn't work, because it's not fair that people who don't have an issue have to be penalised too. No one wants to live in a nanny state.

So what's left is really turn a blind eye to it. Make more therapy available to thr individual on the nhs? More bariatric surgery? More weight loss drugs?

I never cared about this before but they’re fucking with our pizzas because people can’t control how much food they shove into themselves. Now I’m mad. Ffs.

Agree with that, it's nanny state and it's not ok.

It’s actually insulting to live in a nanny state! Seriously considering going back home but my husband loves it here.

interesting opinions that no one wants to live in a nanny state..yet so many on here want 'therapy' and medical professionals and input to ensure they lose weight...effectively saying we want to be told what to do, and we want someone else to make it easy for us to do it. We want to abdicate self responsibility.
that is a nanny state mind set

I'm getting off this thread right now .. OP made a perfectly valid point which has now been turned into the usual hand wringing whining drama fest !! ... the world is full of food .. healthy and unhealthy.. if you eat too much crap you get fat ... that's life

"There is also evidence to show that fat shaming by medical personnel causes more of a financial burden due to overweight people avoiding treatment."

what does fat shaming by medical personnel actually look like ?
I am being told by DoH that i should be discussing health issues like drinking and weight with patients, opportunistically when they come for other problems...how can i say you are overweight/fat/obese/morbidly obese and this will impact on yourhealth now and long term...without being accused of fat shaming.

i would never say ' you are a fat person, you are disgusting ' etc etc but we do have to face up to this health crisis and doctors and nurses have to be pretty frank about it.
It really is no good me saying to a 20 st patient, ' oh you are a few pounds over weight ' or ' you are a little chubby/cuddly/well padded'
these euphemisms are nice sounding and make the patient less aware of the real impact their weight will have.It makes it 'ok' for them

Fat shaming nastiness = NO
Honest frank information = YES

I'm also not sure what fat shaming by a medical professional looks like either. I have a horrible feeling it's as simple as mentioning it.

I think it's 'mentioning' it every time they see you, regardless of the reason for the visit. Or 'mentioning' it without taking into account the medical history. Or when 'mentioning' it dominates the appointment without offering any genuine support. Or when other issues are disregarded or not taken seriously because you're overweight.

AndersArms post about all the awful daily consequences of being obese confirms my view that we are not seeing obesity as a metabolic disease, instead we are seeing it as an individual failing

I think everyone can agree that the things that are on AndersArms post are not how a human should be living (unable to climb stairs, run, climb a wall etc) but because we view this as an individual failing, shame becomes an option.

So we have a lot of inidividual people in our society right now who are massive failures?

I just don't buy it. What I do buy is a catastrophic failing in the science of nutrition and health over the past 60 years set right up against capitalist aspirations and growth, not to mention technology.

We got it wrong about saturated fat. There has not been ONE study in the last 60 years that categorically confirms that saturated fat causes heart disease. Never mind most of our automatic modern assumptions that eating fat makes you fat. Yet in the late 60's, we went LOW FAT everything - and when did our obesity crisis begin? Hmmmm. Fat actually is a vital macro nutrient for our health.

We got it wrong about salt. Again, it is not proven that salt causes high blood pressure and more evidence shows that salt is a vital nutrient in our diets than not.

We underestimated the problem with sugar. Even now there is still a tendency to say "ah never mind, they are just empty calories". But that is categorically not the case, we are simply not designed to eat masses of sugar - hence diabetes. Which is a direct consequence of insulin packing up because we have eaten too much sugar over a long period of time.

Heard of type 3 diabetes? Also known as Alzheimers. Yes, more and more research showing that the excess of sugar in our diet which eventually fails the insulin production causes alzheimers. Put that alongside the fact that the brain needs FAT to stay healthy, you can start to see some of the catastrophic failings in our nutritional advice.

So no shaming from me.

Bluntness - telling me to try some gentle walking after I've just said all the exercise I do
Blaming my back pain on my boobs/weight instead of the giant herniated disc
I haven't had much luckily because my weight isn't high enough to them to be a concern (GA/MRI etc type thing) but the gentle walking thing riled me

Ollivander

That medical professional is exactly the type that angers me. They are peddling terrible advice about lifestyle to a person who has metabolic disease.

I think people hear overweight/obese and picture someone with folds of fat, unable to walk, out of breath etc etc
I do pole fitness, spin, aerial hoop, horse ride, I can run etc etc but yes, I'm fat
I also work two jobs, and the second one is very physical as a carer

Yes I think the thread is going around in circles and some points made are very true but are hurting some posters. I think obesity is one of the few issues that gets sympathy. The world is gone to pc and making a point comes across as a personal attack. I live within walking distance of about 15 fast food stops and restaurants they are always packed. Though chopped takeaway is a nice change to the area.

In regards to the price of fruit veg and healthy snacks, they should reducing the costs clawed back from sugar tax.

I don't think obesity is a metabolic disease. I don't think we should see it as such. I'm also not sure we should see it as an individual failing either, although arguably in some cases it is. It's just too complex to generalise like this.

I also think calling it a disease, much like alcoholism, or even smoking, or drug addiction, removes personal responsibility.

is a metabolic syndrome Even the NHS labels it as that.

So if you look at that, you see:

• appearance symptoms
• biological symptoms, and especially a look at the role insulin has to play.

"an inability to control blood sugar levels (insulin resistance)"
Some people cannot tolerate a high amount of carbs and sugar (which is what causes insulin to be produced). They will become obese if they eat (even in their calorie range) a lot of carbs. Because biology.

I don't think obesity is a metabolic disease. I don't think we should see it as such. I'm also not sure we should see it as an individual failing either, although arguably in some cases it is. It's just too complex to generalise like this.

Something is going wrong with a lot of people's bodies. Obesity is at crisis point and it makes people miserable and ill.

This has only happened in the last 60 years

What diet advice have we been giving people? Eat low fat. Everyone knows this advice whatever weight you are. But it hasn't worked, people are getting fatter.

So either everyone is catastrophically failing with their willpower or something is wrong with the advice?

what does fat shaming by medical personnel actually look like ?

I have so many examples, having worked in health for so long. Such as "I will roll this one down to you next"
"perhaps if you closed your mouth or spent a while in africa"
so many

You didn't say metabolic syndrome. You specifically said disease and this is what I am taking issue with. You cannot say obese people are diseased.

Yes, I said disease in error

Metabolic syndrome will cause metabolic diseases like diabetes, some even say certain cancers.

I do believe I have a fast metabolic system, although I walk lots and eat healthy food, but I also eat lots of sweets and crisps possibly 5 packs a week on a cheese and coleslaw sandwich. I am size 6-8. My DSIS is really healthy she is a vegan, no sugar and active she is a 12-14 and if she ate the same as me she could be a size 20. She constantly thinks about food and prepares. If i was her I definitely wouldn't have the self control. I feel bad for her though she has thyroid issues and an auto immune disease that hinder.

Mainly though if you eat less and move more it makes a big difference.