Comments on: This link has probably been everywhere already, but…

By: Philip

Philip — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:20:59 +0000

Body Mass Index (BMI) was pioneered in the 1830s by a Belgian astronomer who wanted to define “average man”. He believed that those who deviated from the average physically were more likely to be social deviants. The obese he reasoned had criminal or sociopathic tendencies: weight was an indicator of moral laxity.

By: Noetic

Noetic — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 23:14:14 +0000

It would be easy to blame it on the crappy US health “system” but sadly it’s the same on the NHS (in the UK) too, in many places at least. Some are lucky but generally it seeems health professionals the world around sometimes almost look for excuses not to bother treating people… especially for people on the “spectrum” it gets difficult to communicate your needs against odds like that :(

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:33:53 +0000

At one time I weighed 272 lbs. I currently weigh 172. I wasn’t “sinful” for weighing that much but it wasn’t good for my health. Considering my family history of diabetes (both sides) and my painful scoliosis, I know I made the right choice. But I’m not gonna go screaming “you’re fat go to hell.” I’ll also agree that when I was 272 often medical professionals would obsess over that instead of the health issue I was seeing them for.

By: Ettina

Ettina — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:36:21 +0000

It’s ridiculous to say that fat hatred is because fat is unhealthy, because people who are unhealthily thin are considered the ideal.
In fact, the healthiest body weight is what most people seem to consider ‘somewhat chubby’.

By: John Gagon

John Gagon — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:58:46 +0000

clarification/edit: the lazy excuse referred to is that “you’re just fat” (in the above, I’ve not marked my nouns very well)

By: John Gagon

John Gagon — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:57:38 +0000

I finally read the last article. I was shocked by some “stats” that I didn’t know. 80% genetic and 10,000 calories. I often feel like society is a death trap if you aren’t careful. I can understand now the main point of the series that it’s “Fat Hatred” and not “fat” itself that often kills…esp those who let others get away with that lazy excuse from their own ivory towers and pedestals. The best way to be healthy is to get rest, lower anxiety and if one gets that, then perhaps an enjoyable activity (not some gymn torture), ease of mind about eating, and not falling for that carbonated aspertame trick, not listening to any advise on the matter. Doing what you know is best for yourself and well-being. I don’t think someone can lose weight without well-being anyway. It has to start there and fat is in nature too. Whales have it, they live plenty long. So it’s not fat but really, it’s stress and anxeity from society and it’s nitpickiness and our work lives that do this combined with foods that are often horrid.

By: John Gagon

John Gagon — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:18:42 +0000

I have gall bladder disease and “gout” and a variety of other “g” diseases all starting with “gastro” and often ending in “itis”…

Well, I’m now starting to see a pattern here. If a doctor can blame a disease on fat/poor lifestyle choices (despite the fact I go to a fitness club 3-5x a week and eat mostly vegetables and am still fat due to hypothyroid), they can deny benefits to a patient. The insurance company will then want a documented 6 months *doctor* supervised diet program/exercise program. (literally?) and after that, they’ll disqualify it on some detail that wasn’t included in the documentation and all so insurancy companies and doctors can escape with the least liability and the maximum profit at the expense of the patient.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:57:26 +0000

I cried and cried after reading the links.The mom in the story is so much like me. I am fat, have had DVTs in my leg, and been treated misrerably by my own mom for being fat and by doctors who didn’t want to see me let alone treat me. I finally suffered a second DVT and found a wonderful specialist who assured me my clots were not caused by my being overweight, but by an inherited blood disorder that I got from my thin mom. I have been made fun of, treated like crap and dismissed because I am overweight. It is so hard. I try not to think about it too often, as it is very painful.

By: not small

not small — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:11:23 +0000

I’ve actually had medical personnel start yelling at me for being fat before — not even based on the flimsy excuse of “health considerations,” but because it’d take more than one person to lift me

I wonder to what extent issues of gender and different types of size (both height and weight) are in play here. I’m a tall-ish man, and – short of malnourishment – don’t think lifting me would ever be a one-person job (at least, when I was a care assistant, I don’t think I’d have wanted to lift someone my own weight single-handed). Also, while I don’t carry that much fat around, I do a fair bit of exercise and in part as a result am a fair bit heavier than ‘necessary’ – I could lose say 10kg and be a healthy weight.

The fact that I’m bigger and heavier than many other people just because of my height and gender, and that even so I’m bigger and heavier than I ‘need’ to be due to the ‘extra’ weight I’m carrying, doesn’t seem to be seen as an issue in the same way as it is if someone’s carrying around a similar amount of ‘extra’ fat…

By: shiva

shiva — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:57:52 +0000

I think Emi Koyama’s article “A New Fat-Positive Feminism” is relevant here: http://eminism.org/readings/fatpositive.html