Three questions for you: How much soda do you drink? How often do you eat fast food? How frequently do you eat junk food?
Why do I care? Because you come in all shapes in sizes. Some of you reading this are fat, some are thin, and some are in between. Chances are, every one of you, at some point, has consumed soda, fast food, and junk food. Some of you probably have it very rarely, while others might have it way more often. Now here’s the kicker: We can’t tell what your relationship is with these foods just by looking at you.
Of course the media, the government, and the medical community would have you believe otherwise. Conduct a random internet search about any of these foods, and chances are you’ll find numerous articles about how they are contributing to our national obesity epidemic.
Take, for example, NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to limit the size of sugary soft drinks to 16 ounces. The controversy about this policy is not about the general health of the city, about how consuming large amounts of soda can negatively affect everyone’s health. It’s about fat people, and how much soda fat people drink. That’s fascinating, because I know people of every shape and size who drink soda – including thin people.
People are up in arms about the proposed ban because they believe the government shouldn’t be interfering with our lives to that degree. I agree with that. Each of us needs to be responsible for our own health and our own nutrition decisions. I’m pretty sure that by now, we are all aware of what soda can do to our bodies, we all know that drinking a lot of it can be harmful our health. Just like smoking and excessive drinking, we all know the risks. And, as adults, it’s our prerogative if we choose to engage in risky behaviors.
But what bothers me is that we can’t ever talk about nutritional choices without always also talking about obesity. It’s another way the thin = healthy and fat = unhealthy myths are perpetuated. This weekend my mother was talking about how much she loves potato chips, and how if she has them in the house, she ends up eating the entire bag. I told her that can’t be true, because she’s thin and only fat people eat potato chips. Sounds ridiculous right? But that’s exactly the message sent by the media, the government, and the medical community.
So, what can we do about this? We can be aware of these fat-shaming messages. We can speak out about them. You’d be surprised how many people are not even aware of the fat bias in our society. They see a headless fatty in an article about fast food and don’t think anything of it, even though they know that people of all shapes and sizes eat fast food. The next time you see an article like that, question it. Write a comment. Mention it to someone. Speak up.
The only way to have a truly effective conversation about health concerns is to make it an inclusive conversation for all of us – not just another way to spread the fear of the “obesity epidemic” and shame fat people.
