Lancaster 1

Michael Lancaster

Ammar Hussein

English 2010

July 23, 2017

Fat Acceptance Movement

The Fat Acceptance Movement is perpetuating an epidemic that threatens the health of

Americans Obesity. Over the past few years, especially on social media, a huge push for the

body love movement supported women and men of the larger size to be proud of their form.

Now, advertisements, models and the music industry are growing an appeal to the plus size

community. Fran Hayden is an official ambassador for the body confidence revolution and also

a body positivity activist. She believes there are no real health risks involved with being obese or

overweight. That everyone should be okay with their body shape, no matter the size. I disagree

with her stance on this movement. While a positive movement, the wide acceptance says it is

okay to have a little extra. But this little extra ballooned to full blown obesity acceptance and

ignoring health risks.

The fat acceptance movement also known as health at every size subscribe to the

following pledge:

Health at Every Size is based on the simple premise that the best way to improve health is

to honor your body. It supports people in adopting health habits for the sake of health and well-

being (rather than weight control). Health at Every Size encourages people to:

Accept your size.

Trust yourself.

Accept and respect the natural diversity of body sizes and shapes.
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Eat in a flexible manner that values pleasure and honors internal cues of hunger, satiety, and

appetite.

Find joy in moving ones body and becoming more physically vital.

This feel good message cloaks several dangerous, uniformed and/or violently misrepresentative

ideas. The fat acceptance or FAM turns a blind eye to the overwhelming medical evidence that

being grossly overweight is quite simply very, very bad for your health.

Obesity has a far-ranging negative effect on health. Each year obesity-related conditions

cost over 150 billion dollars and cause an estimated 300,000 premature deaths in the US. The

health effects associated with obesity include, but are not limited to, the following: Cancer - In

women, being overweight contributes to an increased risk for a variety of cancers

including breast cancer, colon, gallbladder, and uterus. Men who are overweight have a higher

risk of colon cancer and prostate cancers. Heart disease Atherosclerosis (hardening of the

arteries) is present 10 times more often in obese people compared to those who are not

obese. Coronary artery disease is also more prevalent because fatty deposits build up in arteries

that supply the heart. Narrowed arteries and reduced blood flow to the heart can cause chest pain

(angina) or a heart attack. Blood clots can also form in narrowed arteries and cause a stroke.

Obesity is not just a physical issue either, its a psychological issue as well. A study done by

Jennifer C. Collins, M.A., M.S. and Jon E. Bentz,Ph.D., Lancaster General Neuropsychology

Specialists, on Behavioral and Psychological Factors in Obesity points that obese people struggle

with taking comments, attitudes and perceptions interpersonally.

Omics International an academic journal speaks on the health risks of an overweight

person. Obesity is one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. Large-scale

American and European studies have found that mortality risk is lowest at a BMI of 2025 kg/m
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in non-smokers and at 2427 kg/m2 in current smokers, with risk increasing along with changes

in either direction. In Asians risk begins to increase between 2225 kg/m2. A BMI above

32 kg/m2 has been associated with a doubled mortality rate among women over a 16-year period.

In the United States obesity is estimated to cause 111,909 to 365,000 deaths per year, while 1

million (7.7%) of deaths in Europe are attributed to excess weight. On average, obesity reduces

life expectancy by six to seven years, a BMI of 3035 kg/m2 reduces life expectancy by two to

four years while severe obesity (BMI > 40 kg/m2) reduces life expectancy by ten years.

The journal of Nutrition states The health cost attributed to obesity in the United States

is currently estimated to be $147 billion annually and this cost estimate has been used to justify

efforts at obesity treatment and prevention. In other words, we as a nation should focus efforts

on preventing this obesity epidemic that is costing billions of dollars. Rather than accepting our

fate by lying to ourselves and saying that big is beautiful.

As for what is driving Americas chronic weight problem, there are no definite answers.

Scientific studies often reach conflicting conclusions, meaning many theories are out there, but

most of the evidence points to the two causes most people already suspect: too much food and

too little exercise. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average

American ate almost 20% more calories in the year 2000 than they did in 1983, thanks, in part, to

a boom in meat consumption. Today, each American puts away an average of 195lbs of meat

every year, compared to just 138lbs in the 1950s. Consumption of added fats also shot up by

around two thirds over the same period, and grain consumption rose 45% since 1970.

Research published by the World Health Organization found that a rise in fast food sales

correlated to a rise in body mass index, and Americans are notorious for their fast-food

consumption such food makes up about 11% of the average American diet. Another study
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demonstrates the full effect added sugars from soda and energy drinks are wreaking havoc on

American waistlines. So it is not just how much we eat, but what we eat.

I myself have struggled with body image for most of my life. A few years ago I too was

obese. I weighed 360 pounds, I would convince myself that everything was okay and that beauty

comes in all shapes and sizes. All the while ignoring the serious health risks linked to obesity. It

wasnt until my weight effected regular daily activities such as bending over or going up a flight

of stairs that I decided to make a change. Fast forward two years, due to diet change and working

out I lost 160 pounds and am the happiest/healthiest I have been in my life.

Inevitably when you compare extremes of body image such as being severely

underweight and being obese it leads to a war on a body shape which leads to an acceptance and

an actual identity or pride for something that is truly unhealthy. Currently, men and women are

accepting a body shape over their health to look and feel beautiful. The new hot look for bodies

should be a healthy heart and a healthy life. Therefore, the fat acceptance movement should not

be supported because accepting obesity as something to take pride in is unhealthy, and it does

not promote the self-love of all HEALTHY body types. There is a spectrum of body types the

medical field recognizes. A persons Body Mass Index (BMI) lets doctors know what part of the

range a persons body falls in. A BMI also clues doctors in to know what health risks a patient

experiences. A normal healthy BMI range is 18.5-24.9, according to the American Cancer

Society. The BMI doesnt determine the shape of someones body. A man or woman can still

have a little extra or a little less and still be healthy.

Instead of supporting the fat acceptance movement, society should shift its focus to

accepting a movement where being healthy is encouraged with understanding that there is a

spectrum of what a healthy body is. Being grossly obese is becoming acceptable, when frankly it
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is not. Obesity causes many health issues. Promoting the fat acceptance movement does not

promote a healthy body, but instead promotes inappropriate behaviors such as overeating and

laziness, which has been linked to a coping mechanism for depression, according to the Journal

of Lancaster General Hospital.

Women and men should love their bodies and be confident, but women and men

shouldnt love cancer, diabetes and heart disease more than they love living their life. The Fat

Acceptance campaign has brought the love of health risks. Men and women should love being

healthy.
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Works Cited:
About NAAFA. NAAFA, n.d. Web. 24 July 2017.

"Fat acceptance movement." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 July 2017. Web. 23

July 2017.

"Fat Acceptance." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 23 July 2017.

Hall, Carolyn. "6 Things I Dont Understand About The Fat Acceptance Movement."
Thought Catalog. Thought Catalog, 01 May 2014. Web. 23 July 2017.

Hayden, Fran. Fran Hayden. N.p., 19 July 2017. Web. 24 July 2017.

"Health Risks Linked to Obesity." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 23 July 2017.

"Health Risks of Being Overweight." National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and
Kidney Diseases. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 01 Feb. 2015. Web.
24 July 2017.

Press, Associated. "Has 'fat acceptance' contributed to the U.S. obesity problem?" USA
Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 Mar. 2017. Web. 24 July 2017.

Bacon, Linda, and Lucy Aphramor. "Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a

Paradigm Shift." Nutrition Journal. BioMed Central, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 July 2017.

"Fat acceptance movement." Fat acceptance movement. Omics International, n.d. Web.

30 July 2017.

Gerow, Brittany. "'Identifying as Fat' Looking Closely at Fat Acceptance Visual Culture."

Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2017.