Fatshaming

[travelinterest]

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?

[Satsumaeater]

Interesting thread here:

twitter.com/gilescoren/status/1050667058583625728

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

Wow thanks for the heads up.

I’m currently in a mental health crisis and tbh I come to this site for support. The utter need for some people to be so nasty is incredible.

I’ll just hide my ugly fat self away from you better people and try not to ‘spread the fat’ amongst you.

I’ve also reached out to the NHS this week for help with my mental health but I wouldn't want to drain the service with needs so I’ll step back. God forbid I’ve actually paid taxes too and need to use it. I forgot being fat means you’re the lowest of the low.

Cheers 🥂

[Satsumaeater]

I'm not sure how you'd enforce banning parking within a mile of a school? I live next door to a school, do you suggest I'm not allowed to park outside my own house

In most places they seem to use residents' parking permits when they want to keep "outsiders" out. I also live near a school but I have a drive, so it's not really an issue for me if they were to ban people from parking on the road.

[Onlineslop]

It’s counterproductive for many people - can trigger binge eating etc.

[RandomlyChosenName]

Anorexia actually carries a much higher mortality rate

Really? I'd be very surprised.
The top three causes of death in the UK are:
1: Cancer- obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer.
2. Heart Disease- usually caused by being overweight
3. Stroke- another thing caused by being overweight


Obviously anorexia is a terrible condition which causes death, but that doesn't mean it's worse than obesity.

[RedDwarves]

My overeating doesn’t have an impact on anyone else’s health, only mine.

Smokers could say the same thing, and yet it's plainly untrue.

[MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1]

Anorexia actually carries a much higher mortality rate

Yes, anorexia is a horrifically dangerous disease, but I have to point out that this statement is no where near true - obesity is the leading cause of death in the UK (according to Gov.uk and NHS.uk)

[RandomlyChosenName]

I don't agree with "fat shaming" or in anyway being deliberately nasty to anyone.

I also don't agree with the message that it's ok to be fat.

[Missingstreetlife]

Well said Georgie, hope you feel better soon

[GoldilocksAndTheThreePears]

A smoker can, when they stop smoking, never pick up a cigarette again and possibly live their entire life never ever coming into contact with one, even in supermarkets now they are hidden away. Someone addicted to overeating, and it is an addiction, can never ever have a clean break from food. If they do, it's a very permanent, very terminal, choice. I've been shamed for picking the healthy choice before! Oh having a salad, oh choosing diet drink, sure that'll help.

The reason fat people are vilified for poor health is because it's visible. A thinner person could live on cigarettes and beer but at a glance appear far more healthy than a fat person who happens to be over normal BMI but otherwise fit and healthy. It's looks, pure and simple. Any human can be any level of health but unless it shows, it isn't judged. Fat is judged automatically.

I've tried to seek help. Therapy was a general course, I was allowed 6 sessions with a counselor who would be the same person following the same script of questions whatever the reason I'd sought help, so helped nothing. There is no more help. By all means shame me in the street, I'd raise my middle finger back if I could but I can't due to the crippling arthritis that riddles my body and um.... made me fat! Funny how having a disability which means you struggle to even move room to room let alone run or walk for health, and struggle to cook so rely on crap pre-prepped food can make you larger. But I'm sure a good shaming will just flush all the disability out of me and make it all better.

[thecatneuterer]

^Should we shame thin people who end up with diabetes because they've over indulged Carbs?*

@Birdsgottafly Sorry for going off on a tangent here, but is that really a thing? I'm a thin person who practically lives on carbs (although not refined sugar) Does that make me a high risk for diabetes? I honestly didn't know that. My GP has never mentioned it. Does you have any links for further info? My hunch is that, if it is true, it's really sugar that's the danger.

Once again, sorry for the tangent.

[CherryPavlova]

Mortality and national death rate are two different things.
More people die from obesity related diseases because morre people are fat.
In terms of epidemiology, it is the higher killer.
In terms of likelihood of an individual dying from their body dysmorphia, anorexia is the more likely killer.

[OftenHangry]

I think that problem lies in using the term "fat shaming". For majority of people that brings up proper bullying in their minds.

Obesity shouldn't be ignored, but people shouldn't be bullied for it.
There must be a middle ground.

[partyanime]

I tend to binge after a relative fat shames me.

I'm obese because I have an unhealthy relationship with food and use it as a coping mechanism

I would much rather people assume I'm fat because I'm greedy than actually know I have an eating disorder

I don't think personally fat shaming someone helps. I do think publicly non directly raising awareness of risks like various media campaigns helps some though

So, no we shouldn't be allowed to personally fat "shame" but yes we should allow society to challenge our acceptance of obesity

[FruitofAutumn]

Anorexia is much more dangerous than being obese. Educate yourself!

And in what way is drinking villanised? People are always talkin if not bragging about what they've drunk.
Anyway when all these food shortages people are saying will DEFINITELTY happen after Brexit , the fatties will be the healthy ones!

[Gwenhwyfar]

"""Are the poorer people in France as fat as the poorer people here though""

Yes they are."

Evidence please.

[Lovelygiraffe]

Ok, so what about people who drop their children to school on the way to work? I drop my dc at a breakfast club, the breakfast club then walk the children to school, however the breakfast club is less than a mile from the school (so I wouldn't be allowed to park) but 2 miles from my house.

I haven't got time to walk 2 miles in the morning before work. I drop the dc off at 7.30 to get to work for 8am.

There's also the fact that there are schools everywhere, you can't even go a mile without there being a school so you're essentially suggesting that nobody be allowed to park anywhere but their own driveway.

I'm not even overweight and my children certainly aren't. So you're suggesting that I shouldn't be allowed to park at my children's breakfast club, from where they then WALK to school, and that I be unable to make it to work on time?

[Gwenhwyfar]

"My overeating doesn’t have an impact on anyone else’s health, only mine.

Smokers could say the same thing, and yet it's plainly untrue."

To be fair, the main problem with smoking is passive smoking. If someone is eating unhealthy food and big portions next to me they're not forcing me to eat it too as would be the case for passive smoking. However, they are likely to influence me and people are more likely to become overweight if their friends are too. It's an influence rather than a forcing as it is with smoking.

[PeasAreGreat]

Anorexia is much more dangerous than being obese. Educate yourself!

Yes this is true, but there are a hell of a lot less anorexic people than overweight people. So it is not relevant is it? The whole point here is that obesity is an epidemic which is adding to the the strain of the NHS.

Approximately 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder (this includes anorexia, bulimia, BINGE EATING, etc) and there are roughly 65.64 million people in the UK, so a very small percentage of people actually have an eating disorder.

In the UK, 66.6% of men and 52.7% of women were found to be either overweight or obese.

So pleaseeeeee tell me how Anorexia is a greater strain on the NHS than obesity?

[Missingstreetlife]

Really, randomly? I know lots of thin people who had heart attacks, lots of other factors, including genetics. Some thin people don't eat healthy.
Some cancers are linked with obesity, it's good to know that, also good to know some cancers linked with smoking but a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. People who have never smoked get cancer, and some cancers nothing to do with smoking, but people always ask 'did they, do they smoke' even if it's not connected. Blame the victim, cheaper than addressing causes of ill health, poverty, poor housing, pollution.....

[PussGirl]

Being fat has become normalised. Just look at the larger sizes now available in mainstream shops.

When I was young in the 1980s it was not possible to buy bigger than size 14 unless you went to Evans Outsize.

Plus the sizes were a lot smaller then. And there was not much lycra.

People don't need shaming - that will never work for the vast majority.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"So, no we shouldn't be allowed to personally fat "shame" but yes we should allow society to challenge our acceptance of obesity"

Exactly this.

[Lovelygiraffe]

You could perhaps incentivise walking more. Some kind of rewards for those that walk to school or work, but you can't punish those that can't for whatever reason.

I like the idea of rewards for weight loss, no idea how it would work or how much it would cost.

[partyanime]

Aren't we meant to have this daily mile thing being implemented across schools?

It's too late for many of us, but I definitely think that will solve the younger obesity crisis

I don't think parents should be penalised and made to park further away.... back before housing was so expensive lots of children would have had gardens to play in, now it's rarer to have a garden... mums are working or studying and perhaps you can sit in the park a few hours a week while they run but you can't everyday...

I think schools doing the fifteen minute daily mile is an excellent solution

Workplaces doing it would be good too but we sweat more and wear totally impractical workplace clothing so I doubt it's possible

[Frosty66611]

My DP is very skinny (needs a belt with his size 30 waist jeans) and his diet is atrocious (ready meals, loads of processed meat, a crazy amount of chocolate, energy drinks etc). He just has a very fast metabolism but he’s setting himself up for all sorts of health issues like diabetes etc. Just using this as an example that skinny doesn’t necessarily mean their internal organs are healthy