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?

Wowwwwwww stupidity

Being in A&E for about 4 hours last week, made me realise sport has a lot to answer for in terms of NHS usage.

I mean maybe we should just take fat peoples cars off them altogether, they'd just have to adapt wouldn't they?

Or is it only parents that you eat to punish?

I am not sure what the OP means by fat shaming.. It is very unlikely to help but we do need to stop seeing being fat as 'normal' and get away from the notion that fat and healthy is OK.

The arguments that get trotted out again and again is that people eat for all sorts of emotional reasons and in some way this absolves them from responsibility. However the same can be applied to smokers or drinkers, people smoke to help alleviate stress or anxiety or self medicate with alcohol in response to emotional issues.

So people on the thread saying that smokers and drinkers can give up while over eaters because firstly you have to eat and secondly you eat for emotional reasons are using yet more reasons to abdicate self responsibility.

If a smoker can stop and learn alternative ways to manage their stress etc then over eaters can stop eating too much and learn other techniques too.

We do need to eat to live but we don't need to eat so much we get fat.

I have carefully explained to my overweight patients that they need to lose weight and it is usually met with either disbelief (I am not obese doc) or denial (but I only eat salads doc) or complaints (the doc was rude).

I am not rude, I am empathic and give practical advice but I will not be complicit in patients denial and abdication of self responsibility.
Until we as a society accept that being fat is not healthy and that we individually need to take responsibility for our own actions then this is going to continue to be a public health crisis

For some people, knowing that being obese is a risk factor for 40% of cancers makes them want to try not to be obese.
No that's not correct.

What they are saying is that 40% of cancers can be prevented - there are lots of other risk factors involved, not just obesity and smoking eg radiation, infection, sun damage etc.

The risk factor that is responsible for most of this 40% of cancers is smoking and the next one is obesity.

Therefore to say obesity is a risk factor for 40% of cancers is inaccurate.

I have carefully explained to my overweight patients that they need to lose weight
I hop only when it is relevant to their complaint?

I,m fat never used to be til I started on medication. Two different types of anti depressants which are known for lowering metabolism have caused my weight gain. I had to come off both a couple of years ago due to another medical condition and the weight fell off. Yes I was thin again but I was also severely depressed, self harming and suicidal, off work and under medical care for the other problem.
I am fat again due to being back on my anti depressants, but I'm on an even keel mentally, back working,and more importantly alive.
Fat shaming would be the end of me quite frankly and not all fat people are fat because of poor diet although many are.
Countries where fat shaming ' works ' bet you they think of little else but food and what people think.
I know obesity is a crisis in the West and has to be tackled somehow, but fat shaming is not the answer.

I'm probably one of the only people on here who will never ever be overweight. Even I can see that making people feel even worse about their weight is absolutely not the way to go. Running someone down will only lead to more self loathing and overeating.

And let's be clear, most people are eating this way, not just those who are obese. To single out those with obesity as though they're the only ones suffering from related health problems is ignoring part of the problem. Thin people have these health issues too.

This.

When I was overweight I ate the same diet as I'm eating now and doing the same moderately active job.
I was overweight because of the side effects of the antidepressants that I had to take just to get through the day without killing myself.

A friend of mine is overweight because she has hypothyroidism which is currently untreated due to the way the NHS don't recognise the correct test for thyroid dysfunction despite her being symptomatic.

Another friend is overweight because she suffers from PCOS.

Do none of them, or me when it was me, deserve to buy nice clothes that are fashionable and stylish just because it offends some wankers who think that fat people should hide away in shame.

The Cancer Research website doesn't break down the risk factors by percentage, but it does say clearly that obesity is the biggest risk factor in the UK after smoking. So even if it's not a risk factor for 40% of cancers, it's still the second most important risk factor and a risk factor in at least 13 types of cancer. Since in some cases multiple risk factors will come together to increase an individual's likelihood of developing the disease, it's sensible to inform people about the risks.

And the website also says this:
"But perhaps what’s most important to state is that nobody should feel bad about their bodyweight or feel blamed for their cancer.
We’d like to prevent more cases of cancer, and one way of doing this is by raising awareness of what causes cancer so people know how to reduce their risk.
Only 15% of people in the UK know there’s a link between carrying extra weight and cancer. So to try and tackle this we’re running a campaign to see if we can help increase awareness with posters, radio adverts and using social media."

"Being in A&E for about 4 hours last week, made me realise sport has a lot to answer for in terms of NHS usage."

Sport injuries cost the NHS, but active people are generally healthier so it's probably a net gain for the NHS.
You can't judge a whole health system from 4 hours in one department!

Why Is emotional eating ok and emotional smoking not Ok? Both are unhealthy both will kill you but one gets told they have no will power and one gets sympathy?

Once doctors stop fat shaming, offer the same support to help people quit overeating rather than sending them off to slimming world (which is shite in reprogramming people’s behaviour) including mental
Health support which often leads to overeating as they do to help people to quit smoking you might have a little point. But good as overweight people face constant discrimination maybe we need to be more supportive, being overweight is usually a lot more complicated than someone just being greedy

"even if they don't know, it's not your job or responsibility to tell them"

Who's job is it then? I told my brother when he was putting on weight and would do it again. Far better to get a hold on the situation before things get too bad.

"Once doctors stop fat shaming"

So doctor's advice is fat shaming???
How should doctors approach the issue in your opinion?

I'm very overweight, in fact I'm morbidly obese.

Since I started having to use a wheelchair I can't move around much and have piled on masses of weight.

I also take steroids which have added to the weight.

I am really, really struggling for money, in that I have about £20 a week left for food, which has to feed three of us. As I am unable to prepare and cook healthy meals due to my disabilities, allergies, my bowel condition and my mental illness, I rely on microwaved meals, frozen crap and snacks like crisps. I can't eat most fruit or veg because of my bowel.

Every time I look in a mirror I sob because of how disgusting I look. I am twice the weight I should be for my height and I cannot see a feasible way of getting it off, and neither can my health are professionals, because everything I could do is halted by my disabilities and illnesses. I've had to remove mirrors and I can't fit in my clothes yet can't afford to buy more.

Do you REALLY think that shaming me is going to work? I'm already fucking ashamed, I'm a vile, fat monster. Do you honestly think I want to look like this? Do you really think that when I do brave going outside, I get comments about if I lost some weight I wouldn't need my wheelchair? I can assure you it doesn't help. It just makes me more ashamed of myself, more likely to go home and feel lower and lower and worsen.

Disgusting.

Smoking is vile, yes. It's a choice. Obesity is not a choice for some. I don't think any fat person really wants to be fat.

"Why Is emotional eating ok and emotional smoking not Ok? Both are unhealthy both will kill you but one gets told they have no will power and one gets sympathy?"

Because other people aren't exposed to cancer causing particles when they are around the overweight.

How should doctors approach the issue in your opinion?

Understanding the issues would be a good start.

For the umpteenth time, I've just seen another new doctor. Yet again, got a glib comment "you could do with losing a little weight". No shit Sherlock! Had you bothered to read any of my notes, you'll see a history going back 45 years of food related behavioural problems, depression, etc., and seen that I've asked GPs for help many times to deal with binge eating, also seen that the only "advice" I've ever been given is to try weight watchers or go to the gym - neither of which touch the sides of binge eating and making myself throw up afterwards! Brilliant (not) new advice from the latest one though which was to search Facebook to see if there were any binge eating support groups! If that's the best they can do, no wonder we have an obesity problem!

To villainise junk food is one thing (like alcohol, smoking or drugs), to shame people's bodies is another. So fine, tax fat and sugar, make healthy food cheaper and unhealthy food more expensive, but I suspect that most overweight people are shamed quite enough without it being socially acceptable - even encouraged.

" got a glib comment "you could do with losing a little weight"."

Well he should have read your notes before, but I hardly think that's very shaming. If you're very overweight, it was even a euphemism as he said you only needed to lose 'a little' weight.
Not really the GP's fault if there isn't much support either is it? It's the system as a whole not him/her.

Gwenhwyfar I'm talking about random strangers making fat-shaming comments to people about whom they know nothing. If you don't know them, then why on earth would you think it was your place to tell them that they're too fat?

Of course doctors can raise the issue with overweight patients, if it's relevant to the point at hand. Comments to family and friends might be acceptable IF you know that person's circumstances well enough to know the reason for their weight gain, and you do it in a non-shaming way. Anyone else needs to stay the hell out of it.

Seriously - why are some people on here trying to find justification for being unpleasant to others?

"I am overweight because of my medication............."

No, you are overweight because you eat too much. The amount you eat may have been fine before the meds, but it's not fine now. Eat less and you'll be less fat.

Saying "I'm only fat because i'm on meds" is like saying "i'm only fat because i'm not a teenager anymore". We all need to adjust our diets to suit changes in how our bodies function. Sure it's a kick in the teeth if suddenly you have to eat less to maintain a healthy weight, but that's life.

I think part of the problem is that slightly overweight is actually seen as normal. That and that food is so cheap and available whereas there is less incentive to exercise as part of normal life. So we take the moving staircase up from the tube rather than walk up the stairs in the middle for example.

Fat shaming isn't the answer. It just makes people defensive. Promoting behaviour change is. So make fat coke more expensive. Encourage people to walk up the stairs etc etc.

So YABU OP but you are right that something needs to be done. Diabetes, heart diseases and Cancer cost £££ for the NHS. Obesity is directly linked and we can't continue to ignore this as a society.

Fulltimeyummy. You actually have no idea. Some medication lowers your metabolism so much you would basically live off a lettuce leaf to keep thin. In fact so little it would be difficult to get enough nutrients, would lead to constant hunger pains in feelings of nausea, light headedness etc. Some people really are quite stupid

From what I can make out, smoking is more hazardous than most cases of obesity.
I'm not supporting shame for either, though.
Shame should be reserved (for example) for the crap that Brett Kavanaugh got up to.
The rest of us need support to treat ourselves better.