The idea of fat shaming is not only mean and wrong, a new study also warns that shaming those who are overweight fails to help them slim down to a more healthy weight. Instead, highlighting their weight or discriminating against them in everyday life can cause them to put on more weight as they resort to comfort eating.
With the holidays underway, there are far too many opportunities for people to find a way to subtly shame curvy women and men for being bigger than what society calls “the norm.” Whether intentional or unintentional this holiday season, how about everyone keeps these common fat-shaming comments to him or herself:
We already know that according to the American Heart Association that nearly 80 percent of adult Americans do not get the recommended amounts of exercise each week, potentially setting themselves up for years of health problems. So consider this…what if whatever we’re doing to motivate each other just isn’t working and is in fact counterproductive?
There are a variety of reasons for obesity and raising awareness of some of these factors—including genetics—can help put us on the right path towards making our weight about being healthy on the inside vs. appearance on the outside. We do appear to be making some strides with artist like Colbie Caillat and Keira Knightly have snubbed photo shopping.
So what to do if someone you love is an unhealthy weight? Save the fat shaming comments this holiday season and just enjoy one another, no matter how many plates Uncle Joe is eating at Christmas this year.
In our next post, we’ll address how to support those we love rather than fat-shaming. Until then, know that becoming an active part of someone’s program is a great place to start, which is why we’ve made Excy an incredibly social and portable exercise machine that can be used anywhere.
The Huffington Post also recently featured the meanness of fat shaming in an article titled “It’s a Shame Body Shaming Is Part of American Culture.” You can read it here.
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