Glorifying obsesity

[Poppybob]

I find it bizarre that media and social platforms are glorifying obesity. Am not talking about people putting pictures of themselves on social media and living their lives in general, and am NOT saying overweight/obese people should be hiding.... but actual social media stars who are promoting obesity and how good/gorgeous they are etc etc. It's unhealthy!!! Takes 10-20years off your life! The Co - morbidities from being dangerously overweight alone can shorten your life. It's on par with smoking it's so bad for your health. And I worry about my kids looking at this and thinking that it will be OK for them to be very overweight.

Slim doesn't equal healthy though. I know plenty of slim people who live on absolute junk.

I keep seeing women doing 'Shein swoops' and posing around in outsize clothes. I'm glad that overweight people have access to clothes that they feel good in but why add the defiance of, "See, gorgeous at any size". It's not needed, not about what you can actually fit into as clothes are being produced at all sizes and it does no good for keeping health in view as the goal.

So, where should overweight people see their clothes advertised? 🙄

Slim doesn't equal healthy though. I know plenty of slim people who live on absolute junk.

And this

"Slim" might not necessarily mean healthy but "obese" never does.

i guess we should all stop eating and smoke instead?
now that's unhealthy

The healthy weight range is quite wide and women if many different shapes and sizes fall within it. Using underweight models is seen to be promoting anorexia, so why should using overweight models be any different? Neither are healthy.

we know models size 0 are unhealthy and unobtainable
we need life like models, whatever life like is
size 16 is the most common size, i believe, in the UK,

PhantomUnicorn I've read your post as it is just above mine. I understand your point but glorification is what it is - or call it something else if you want.

I can remember shopping with one of my friends in the 1980s. Evans was the place to go if you were larger. When I say larger, I mean, you could get size 18, maybe a size 20 there. That size 18 was not comparable to the size 18 you can buy now. My mate was self-conscious about her weight but there was no alternative, you couldn't shop in Miss Selfridge or Chelsea Girl if you were above a 14.

I think restricted sizing kept weight in check to a degree, as sad as that is.

Please do not misinterpret what I'm saying - everybody needs access to clothes that fit, are comfortable and look good, at whatever size they are. Some women (and it is women) are fighting back at the stubborn and immutable blueprint of being a sensible weight for your height by using social media platforms to parade - and that's what it is. I don't want my daughter being influenced by this and other behaviours that are detrimental to her mind, body and health.

It's the fan-faring and over-effusive promotion of obesity being acceptable that is the issue and on that, I'm 100% in agreement with the OP.

There's a couple of separate things really

You can be obese and say you're gorgeous, because hating your body doesn't make you more likely to lose weight
And you're fully entitled to have social media at any size. I post photos of me, that doesn't mean I'm glorifying obesity, I'm just existing and doing what someone of a normal BMI would do but because I'm fat, it's not acceptable?

That's basically saying nobody who is overweight can post on social media in case they suddenly promote obesity and people rush to put 4 stone on to look like them
Health and weight are separate, yes weight can make health worse (to either extreme) but you can be unhealthy/unfit and thin, or exercise and be fat

Where does anybody see their clothes advertised? I don't see clothes adverts on the TV at all actually so I'm assuming, websites?

I last shopped on Roman and Phase8 on their websites, you search by size or clothing type or just browse.

I couldn’t agree more, and I say that as someone who was obese, and is now a healthy weight. Obesity is a lifestyle choice, not a disease and we should say so loud & clear.

Obesity is the new smoking in terms of its devastating impact on public health and it needs to be tackled in the same ways smoking was successfully fought. Restrictions on promotions of HFSS foods, bans on advertising junk food and, most of all, an escalating sugar tax which hits hard enough to actually move the dial on consumption, just as tobacco taxes did.

This is spot on.

Yes, we all know how bad for our health obesity is but as a person who is obese, the support to get help just isn't there in the same way as support for other addictions or health conditions are.

People think it's just don't eat as much, move more and on the surface of course that's true. But for the vast majority of obese people it's not that simple. It's an incredibly complex disease and generally mixed up with emotional trauma, coping mechanisms etc.

I am diagnosed with an eating disorder and still haven't been able to get any support apart from a dietician showing me a food chart. I'm not stupid, and KNOW what is and isn't good for me as will most obese people. The issue boils down to such a lack of education at a young age and lack of support to break generational cycles.

Appreciate I have gone off on a tangent here lol. And fundamentally do agree with the post on a surface level as in, we shouldn't be glorifying obesity as something that's cool. It's absolutely not. But it's also not that simple and not representing obese people only increases tje shame felt around it

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe agree with you

I like more modern messages about being strong and nourishing your body and making peace with it than I do this old fashioned shit about being ‘thin’. It’s much better to get everyone working out and eating well and enjoying their lives, regardless of their size than sit there carping about the nhs and bmi. No one on earth has lost weight because strangers on the internet wrapped their disgust for fat in wide eyed faux concern about the societal costs of it.

Normalising Fat bodies reduces the self hatred fat people feel, and by proxy, is more likely to promote happiness, which in turn, encourages better eating habits, more exercise, and weightloss.

But the obesity rate is climbing, despite the normalisation?

@VyeBrator yes, because if you noticed, poverty is on the rise, as is the cost of healthy food.

affordable food is, by and large, heavily processed and packed with salt, fat, carbs, and sugar.

There is less focus on teaching people to cook, less time to cook.

Eating healthily, and having the funds and time to do so, is becoming harder and harder for people on low income.

I also very much agree with this, it isn't a simple issue by any means, it's hugely complex and there is next to zero effective help and support available.

No other addiction involves something that the body actually needs to live. I can't understand why far more hasn't been done to tackle this. The only remedy that gets bandied around is the ridiculous sugar/fat tax on products. Completely tone deaf and ineffective given that so many people are struggling with cost of living.

agree we need to educate our children, feed them properly,
i saw an over weight man and his overweight 9 year old, on the way to school - eating sausages rolls! i kid you not

that's where we need to start,
making sure our off spring are fit and healthy and stop eating bad foods

I'd fully support a sugar/UPF tax being then used to subsidise normal foods like fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs.

I agree; there are women who are big but curvy, then there are women who are obese and have rolls of fat/flab , they struggle to walk, get out of breath, and need 2 seats rather than one. It's one thing to be polite to obese people, but it's not something I think should be encouraged. I tend to think that the whole body positivity thing is a bit mad though.

Post isn't saying fat people are disgusting, it's not what was intended and apologise if this how it is coming across. If anything I've had more body shaming and horrible comments re: being a thin lady than any of my larger friends.

dont take away our sports fields and green spaces

EmeraldFox, I too would support this. How could it be implemented and monitored and who would do that? This government is completely incapable. I mean, we have food banks because people are not being supported financially in the way that they should be and the government doesn't care one bit.

Any talk of weight is contentious and triggers anger. My personal view is that fitness and nutrition should be the goal without constant harping back to weight. Weight loss would follow as a natural by-product of an affordable and health diet.

Oh don't even start with this bullshit lol

I'm obese but I don't need 2 seats or have rolls of fat. Size 16 and 5ft 10