My concern is with a media which treats even a minor outward curvature
of the abdomen as cause for scorn. Some TV stations air such material
almost daily. This kind of media is riddled with harsh implicit (and
occasionally quite explicit) value judgments about how individuals live
their lives.
Speaking of myself - I'm forty-eight years old and have a noticeable
outward curvature above my belt. But I also regularly walk, cycle, swim
and I'm in generally good health. My physical dimensions? I'm 5'10" and
weigh about 170 pounds.
I also feel reasonably comfortable in my body. I'm fortunate in that -
how many people can honestly make the same claim nowadays, regardless of
how much they actually weigh?
Yes, excess weight can prove to be a health hazard for many individuals.
But this media and government-fueled obsession with impossible standards
of physical perfection is probably even more dangerous to the overall
well-being of the body politic through the long run.
What do you think largely accounts for so-called 'eating disotders'? The
social pressure in favor of impossible physical standards is so
pervasive that some people are willing to attempt to literally starve
themselves into a physical form that maybe one human being in a million
is capable of achieving naturally.
This pressure to conform affects women at a disproportionate rate. I'm
sure many of you have seen the pictures of Karen Carpenter taken shortly
before she died of a heart attack at the age of thirty-two. These images
were of a demon-ridden skeleton - in this case the demon was that of
social intolerance. What else would induce someone to pursue what
amounts to suicide by starvation? While Karen Carpenter was an extreme
example this phenomena is not in itself unusual nowadays.
Because Ms. Carpenter was someone who was very much in the public eye
the social pressure on her was that much stronger. How else can you
account for the proliferation of billboards showing emaciated
'supermodels' draped in the latest fashion accessories? This advertising
material also sets an example that ordinary people are strongly
pressured to adhere to - regardless of the consequences.
Steve Cummins wrote:
> I find the view that obesity is an unreliable indicator of physical
> health rather a strange and potentially dangerous one.
>
> It is true that how obesity is measured is contested and that
> discrimination and weightism is rife. For example BMI is not as
> reliable as Waist-Hip Ratio or Abdominal Fatness and that certain
> groups (such as athletes for example) can be heavier and still be
> healthy. It is also true that some people who are overweight are not
> unhealthy (in fact being overweight in old age is protective). You can
> be 'fat' and 'fit'.
>
> However the evidence that being obese causes physical health problems
> at the population level CANNOT be seriously contested at present. For
> example there is strong evidence that being overweight is implicated
> in half of all diabetes cases and reduces life expectancy by up to 7
> years. To suggest otherwise is factually incorrect based upon current
> evidence and detracts focus from what is a very real and pressing
> public health problem
>
> A thorough evidence-based resource can be found here:
>
> http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/index.htm
>
> Cochrane Reviews for obesity-related illnesses and interventions can
> also be found here:
>
> http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/mrwhome/106568753/HOME
>
> Best
> Steve Cummins
>
>
> Carrie Brown wrote:
>> Thank you Graeme, I believe weight is an unreliable indicator of
>> physical health. I know many people within the "acceptable weight
>> range" with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and who are not
>> physically active or who don't eat well enough to achieve health
>> benefits. I also know many people who are above the "acceptable weight
>> range" who are physically fit and extremely healthy.
>> I think in the next couple of years we're going to find that obesity
>> rates have decreased, but overall, people's physical health has not
>> improved. Because all those people who do not fall into the overweight
>> or obese category do not get the message because they are not being
>> targeted and don't feel that they are at risk.
>>
>> I'm afraid as a society we've created the situation where we look at
>> each other and judge health and character based on appearance. This is
>> extremely disconcerting, especially in a world so desperately in need of
>> acceptance, empathy and compassion.
>>
>> Carrie Brown
>> Health Promotion Liaison
>> Northern Lights Health Region
>> 11202 - 100 Ave. High Level, A.B. T0H 1Z0
>> Phone: (780) 841-3204 Fax: (780) 926-7375
>> [log in to unmask]
>> "Take care of ourselves and each other, spend time with loved ones, take
>> breaks when necessary and enjoy each moment on this lovely green and
>> blue planet." ~Tooker Gomberg~
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Social Determinants of Health [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Graeme Bacque
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 11:08 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [SDOH] anti-obesity technology
>>
>> One more serious issue to point out about this whole obesity obsession -
>>
>> this kind of excessive state and medical-sanctioned focus on
>> impossible standards of physical appearance and performance is in
>> fact a known aspect of fascism. It indicates a degree of social
>> intolerance which is becoming extreme.
>>
>> These kind of 'standards' have been used deliberately and systematically
>>
>> to denigrate and oppress women, non-Europeans, religious minorities
>> and persons with disabilities (among others) for centuries.
>>
>> The original history underlying this probably dates back to Biblical
>> times, where a person's physical characteristics were routinely
>> associated with either 'good' or 'evil'. This became highly evident
>> in Europe during the Burning Times. The Nazis escalated this form of
>> persecution to an extreme degree during their reign.
>>
>> This is a no-win situation and the worst form of victim-blaming -
>> although the person affected may actually be primarily a 'victim'
>> of society's scorn over physical attributes which are entirely beyond
>> their
>>
>> control and which may not even specifically be a health issue. In
>> the end it boils down to other peoples' sense of aesthetics being
>> offended as opposed to being a valid indicator of someone's true
>> state of physical well-being.
>>
>> I for one find this obsessive, narrow, judgmental, out of context
>> official focus on certain physical characteristics (to the exclusion
>> of most other personal attributes) to be highly alarming. People need
>> to be
>>
>> valued in all their diversity, no matter what color, shape or size
>> they may come in.
>>
>> Graeme
>>
>> Adam P. Coutts wrote:
>>> an innovative individual protective mechanism for the impending
>>> obesity epidemic! I think it's US based.
>>>
>>> http://www.harrietcarter.com/Detail.cfm?pth=13&Cat=111&prod=4594&sr=1
>>>
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>>
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