Fat and Healthy

“I don’t have a problem with fat. I have a problem with unhealthy.”

“If you are fat, then you must be unhealthy, and that’s why fat is so bad.”

“This whole thing about body positivity is wrong because if you are fat, you are unhealthy and doing damage to your body.” 

We have all heard these phrases, or something similar to them. Perhaps we have even used them ourselves. Society has developed a fear of fat. And while it may seem centered around the health consequences of being overweight, it isn’t. It is about perceptions and monitoring behavior. We have a fear of not looking a certain way or not subscribing to a particular lifestyle. We preach body positivity, but in the same sentence also promote the use of “slimming teas” or other fad diets. Fat scares us, so we hid behind it and ridicule it by saying that it is inherently unhealthy to make ourselves more comfortable. But fat doesn’t always mean unhealthy, and it is our job to reject false information and check ourselves so that we challenge narratives. 

Jenner says "Got my @SkinnyMintCom such a great natural detox
tea program for this summer," Jenner's caption states.
"I need to get healthy again! Who's joining me?"

We often tend to make assumptions simply on how someone looks. But appearances can be deceiving. For example, it is impossible to look at some and know if they only ate vegetables or if they only ate Kit-Kats that day. Consider eating disorders. People that have bulimia may appear to be at a healthy weight when in actuality they may have incredibly poor health. The consequences of eating disorders on both mental and physical health are great but often easily concealed. Thus, looking at a person cannot tell you the truth of their health and well-being. It is impossible to tell someone’s habits only by appearance. 

It is argued that fat causes high blood pressure and high cholesterol, among other things. But these things are not exclusive to people with are medically classified as overweight or obese. A study done in 2016, which followed participants for an average of 19 years, found that unfit lean people were twice as likely to get diabetes as fit people who were overweight. Studies have also found that one-third to three-quarters of people who are medically classified as obese are actually metabolically healthy. These people didn’t show any signs of elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, or high cholesterol. In contrast, about one-fourth of non-overweight people are classified as “the lean unhealthy” because of their poor health habits.

Health is about the habits you have and the actions you take. It isn’t about weight. Take Football defensive end, David Carter. Carter weighs 300 pounds. If you saw him on the street during his football career and didn’t know he was an athlete, you would assume that he is overweight and carries too much body fat. However, he is incredibly high performing. And that is because of his habits and actions. Carter follows a plant-based diet, and research has supported that this diet is much better for health than diets that contain animal products. His diet allows him more energy and overall higher body efficiency. But, you wouldn’t look at him and think that he is a picture of health. In fact, if you didn’t know anything about him or his choices and career, you would call him fat. This is the same case for strongman and former bodybuilder, Patrik Baboumian, and the list goes on.

David Carter

Even after hearing these things, it seems that people always go back to “if they are fat, then they have more weight on their joints, and that is inherently unhealthy.” While that could be true, there are worse effects if someone is continuously monitoring themselves and has poor mental health. If a person always feels that they have to fix their weight and monitor their behavior, they may develop low self-esteem, depression, or a negative self-perception. Poor mental health has been found to impact physical health negatively. In some cases, people can develop diabetes and heart disease. This means that regardless of weight, if people are unhappy, they can develop the same problems that are associated with being fat. In all, if a person constantly feels that they have to monitor themselves, they may be impacting their mental health negatively and thus making impacting their physical health negatively, no matter their size. 

Being fat is not a descriptor of health. Health is individual and dependent on so many different factors. It is not weight dependent. We use health as a way to control narratives and people’s behavior. We use it as a crutch to hide behind what makes us uncomfortable. It is our job to reject false information and social narratives that support the fear of fat.