We know for a fact that one of the top five causes of death in the nation is obesity. Over two thirds of Americans are referred to as being obese or overweight. But what does that word really mean? When obesity comes to mind, it usually brings to mind someone heavy set who doesn't eat well or exercise or really do anything. They literally just sit around. Well, that's an incredibly ridiculous notion. I am one of the 66 percent, and let me tell you, I don't sit around. I'm full time camp counselor during the summer and when I'm in school, I'm on a varsity sports team, with a full schedule of classes plus a job. I don't really have time to just sit around. I'm always trying to eat as healthy as possible because as an athlete and active student, I want my body to have fuel not junk. And yet, upon looking at me, that's what people think I do. Which infuriates me; I'm looked at as nonathletic because of the way my body looks, and what's worse is I'm not the only one.
I had a friend who told me a story about how she went to the doctors and her doctors had classified her in the obese category because of her weight. The ridiculous thing was she was the girl most people strive to look like. Muscular and athletic but still in a feminine way. But she was being told she was obese because her muscle mass tipped the scale to a number that doctors deemed as obese. When she told me this I was like "WTF?!"
I'm not saying that everyone who is deemed overweight is like me and my friend. There are some people who do just sit around and eat like crap. What I'm asking for is some accountability to be held on the doctors side. Redefine what overweight is. Don't just take a number on a scale and say "well, this seems like a good number for a cut off." And even BMI (Body Mass Index) isn't a great indication of it because that as well doesn't take into account muscle mass of the body. Maybe I'm misinformed about this and there are other factors that I'm not seeing because it's too personal for me. But I am imploring that doctors should redefine what the definition of overweight/obese means.
