I don’t know if it’s just me, but every time the topic of obesity comes up in a class discussion or a casual conversation, I feel slightly uncomfortable. I’m not overweight or obese, but I get concerned about the feelings of those who are. We say things like, “these people are slowly killing themselves,” and “there are no excuses.” We stifle our giggles when the professor displays a picture of an extremely obese kid grabbing a french fry. In America, there is at least one person in a family, friend group or classroom who is obese. And if things do not change, at least 44 percent of the population in each state will be obese.
When we openly discuss obesity, we are talking about those who are obese. We are discussing their lifestyles — how people gain weight, why being overweight isn’t healthy, how obesity is putting a strain on the healthcare system, and so on. Meanwhile, in our society it is basically a crime to point out a person’s weight to them: “So, how’s that diet going?” “Oh, you got fat!” “I have these weight loss cookbooks for you!” Saying such things to a person’s face (depending of the context) can be rude and hurtful.
People who aren’t necessarily thin have let society know. Over time the Body Acceptance Movement has taken the stress off of many young, impressionable boys and girls who just do not look like the models and actors that are glorified for their looks. The importance of not judging a person’s lifestyle based on their body size and shape and the importance of loving yourself and your body regardless of how society may see you has been slowly enforced and emphasized through the years. Also, it has pushed a more positive, politically correct attitude towards overweight and obese persons. This, in particular is both good and bad. Society is increasingly treating larger people like human beings, rightfully so. Degrading fat jokes in film and television are not widely acceptable anymore. At the same time, I think it has led to a very tip-toe approach to the discussion of obesity.
Last semester, my English instructor taught my class how to successfully synthesize a source. She used a legitimate statistic on obesity for an example. My classmates had mixed reactions to this — "Why would she put that when it's so demeaning?" This instructor wanted to assign a paper on obesity; she decided against it because she feared it would offend some people.
Obesity is more prevalent than malnutrition and hunger. The health risks associated with it is worse than the ones associated with smoking. The biggest reason for ineligibility to participate in military combat in the United States is obesity. This issue is too urgent for society to be uncomfortable with discussing it with friends and family. I see so many self-love and body acceptance posts on my social media feeds, but I hardly see any posts that passionately condemn childhood obesity as evidence of child abuse. No one talks about how other countries have successfully banned soda advertisements while big food lobbyists prevent our Congress from regulating processed food.
If the United States really wants to slow its obesity rate, then it must learn to openly talk about it. We must stop being afraid of offending anyone when we say things like, "obesity is a disease," or "soda is basically tobacco" (which are both true). Obesity is an issue that needs to be discussed among people and on social media as often as social issues like race and LGBTQ rights are.
