This is a summary of a column written in The Sunday Times, in London. Original author is Rod Little. I would love to hear your thoughts on what he has to say.
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I get that times have changed, said Rod Little. "In my school days, every class I was in had one fat kid, whom everyone bullied until he cried, and that was it." Nowadays, of course, skinny kids aren't supposed to make fun of their heavier classmates, and perhaps that's for the better. But why not mock the grown ups? National health authorities have just issued new guidelines telling doctors "not to use the word 'obese' when delivering advice to the sweating mountains of compacted lard" that waddle into their offices. Evidently "obese" is seen as a derogatory term that might hurt people's feelings. Don't they realize that's the kind of kick we all need? I'm overweight, and once, after a local polish man called me a fat slob, I was so mortified I took to the treadmill for six grueling weeks. Maybe "if I were stigmatized a bit more regularly , I might get down to the gym more often, or cut out the wine." In fact, if we remove the stigma from obesity, what's to prevent us from succumbing to the siren song of KFC? It's far too easy to avoid the truth if nobody calls you fat to your face.
Interesting view, and I think it is a very common one, especially among those who've never struggled with weight or health issues. People who are overweight know they are overweight. It's not something society allows you to ignore. I think it's much too simplistic to think that bullying will shame someone into making huge life changes. Often people are overweight BECAUSE of low self esteem, which often comes from being shamed (or abused, or neglected, or told they aren't worth anything). What people fail to acknowledge is that overweight (and obese) people are ABLE to lose weight. They could find the motivation to get to the gym or make better food choices. The true problem isn't that they (we) fail to notice that they are overweight, or that they wouldn't know how to make better choices, it's that often they don't see a reason to. They don't find enough value in themselves to make the change. If the author truly wants to help someone lose weight, instead of hurling more insults, maybe he should try using compassion. That is likely to go a lot further!
ReplyDeleteAdults know what's up when they are obese....and apparently that insult worked for him although that isn't likely to be the case with everyone. I think that what he is getting at is that sometimes people are led to believe by their friends, families, and even doctors that whatever excuse, no matter how trivial (twisted ankle, bad thyroid, bad knee, etc) is an acceptable reason for that person to be unable to do any sort of physical exercise (swim, bike, yoga,etc.) or make healthy food choices, and sometimes people need brutal honesty. My issue is with parents who have obese little kids, and with pediatricians who won't tell parents, "hey, your kid is obese!"
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