Do attitudes about obesity cause more harm than obesity itself?

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


Unfortunately this isn’t true.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Well I mean if being overweight weren’t harmful there would be less attitude, they feel the same way about smokers and people who abuse alcohol. There’s no need to shame people. But the intersection of obesity with the body-beautiful movement is kind of wrong headed in that there is a real health cost to being fat.


Yeah, but the reason this movement has gained traction is because of the attitudes against fat people. When, as PP did, you go to a doctor and tell them that you are dealing with extreme grief and would like mental health care, and they write you a "prescription" for exercise, there's a pretty valid criticism of that health care provider. Now multiply that times the thousands of these interactions happening and it's a valid criticism of health care providers in general. And if you become convinced that the health care system as a whole isn't competent to listen to your concerns then why listen to their concerns about your body?

My own personal story is that my weight was a constant concern of my mother's from the time I would a young teen. When I was a healthy weight in HS she offered me $1000 to lose 20 lbs. that would have put me below a healthy BMI for my height. She was never verbally or emotionally abusive - never name called, etc. - but my weight was always on her mind. And so it was always on mine. As a result I was never satisfied with how I looked and deprived myself the joy of having a strong body regardless of the number on the scale. And when I did gain weight during a period of depression it was easy to tell myself I was never good enough so why did it matter.


A sad story, but has nothing to do with the point of this thread which is people who are fat or obese.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think it is when - like a colleague recently told me - it prevents people from accessing health care for fear of being dismissed because "if they just lost weight, xyz wouldn't be an issue." My coworker is facing major issues right now and she delayed going to the doctor for this very reason - "I don't want to walk into the office and just be told that I need to lose weight." That's a bigger deal than we realize, I think. Then it becomes a vicious cycle of compounding health issues.

Yep, this. I am very overweight, borderline obese. Doctors’ answer to just about any issue is “losing weight would help” (even when there is no documented correlation between weight and the medical issue), but if you ask them to recommend a program or specialist with good documented successful rates for long-term weight loss, they’re like deer in headlight. Then they mumble something about trying Weight Watchers and move on.


This. People can have attitudes about obesity all they want but there are very few resources that legitimately help people maintain weight loss.

I worked with a registered dietician, referred by my PCP, to lose weight for my A1C. She gave me a 1200 calorie a day diet. I asked about what happens after that? She had nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to offer. It's a complete joke.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


Unfortunately this isn’t true.


You can keep repeating this all you want, it doesn’t make it true.
Anonymous
To answer your question:

YES.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Well I mean if being overweight weren’t harmful there would be less attitude, they feel the same way about smokers and people who abuse alcohol. There’s no need to shame people. But the intersection of obesity with the body-beautiful movement is kind of wrong headed in that there is a real health cost to being fat.


Yeah this is complete BS. People don’t like to be around people smoking but it’s not the same as how we hate fat people as a culture. And abusing alcohol is 100% accepted and normalized in this country.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think it is when - like a colleague recently told me - it prevents people from accessing health care for fear of being dismissed because "if they just lost weight, xyz wouldn't be an issue." My coworker is facing major issues right now and she delayed going to the doctor for this very reason - "I don't want to walk into the office and just be told that I need to lose weight." That's a bigger deal than we realize, I think. Then it becomes a vicious cycle of compounding health issues.

Yep, this. I am very overweight, borderline obese. Doctors’ answer to just about any issue is “losing weight would help” (even when there is no documented correlation between weight and the medical issue), but if you ask them to recommend a program or specialist with good documented successful rates for long-term weight loss, they’re like deer in headlight. Then they mumble something about trying Weight Watchers and move on.


This. People can have attitudes about obesity all they want but there are very few resources that legitimately help people maintain weight loss.

I worked with a registered dietician, referred by my PCP, to lose weight for my A1C. She gave me a 1200 calorie a day diet. I asked about what happens after that? She had nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to offer. It's a complete joke.


Are you looking for a life coach to be by your side for the rest of your life to tell you to eat less?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


Unfortunately this isn’t true.


You can keep repeating this all you want, it doesn’t make it true.


Well, I am not blind; 75% of people are overweight. If it was so controllable that wouldn’t be the case. I am living in reality and you will not.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Well I mean if being overweight weren’t harmful there would be less attitude, they feel the same way about smokers and people who abuse alcohol. There’s no need to shame people. But the intersection of obesity with the body-beautiful movement is kind of wrong headed in that there is a real health cost to being fat.


Yeah this is complete BS. People don’t like to be around people smoking but it’s not the same as how we hate fat people as a culture. And abusing alcohol is 100% accepted and normalized in this country.


So is abusing food.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


Unfortunately this isn’t true.


You can keep repeating this all you want, it doesn’t make it true.


DP. List the programs with good long-term success rates or you’re just wrong. And yes, I will keep asking this question of anyone who claims long-term sustained weight loss is no big deal but doesn’t provide evidence to back that up.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I’m fat, no (ha) sugar coating it. But I was seriously depressed after my mom died suddenly. We had just moved, so I found a new PCP to get a referral and she quickly tells me that I’m not depressed, I just need to exercise more. She then makes a big show of pulling out her prescription pad and writes me a “prescription” to get a personal trainer. She refused to give me the needed psych referral.

All she could see was fat that needed fixing.

Exercise is important, but not to the exclusion of absolutely everything else. She wasn’t interested in hearing the exercise I was doing, because it clearly “wasn’t enough.”

Yay for bedside manner.

Yes, exercise is important, but WTF, lady?!


That's awful. How frustrating. My toxic-around-weight family thinks that exercise is the cure for everything and it makes me crazy.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


I guess I don't know for sure, but I think your inlaws' experience is atypical. Most overweight people don't experience significant weight loss simply by eating normally and walking more. I think it's more typical for overweight people to see some initial weight loss from change in diet and exercise. But then, often, their body adjusts and is able to retain weight even in the face of increased movement and reduced caloric intake. So, the dietary restrictions and time/effort spent on exercise increase. At some point, this becomes unsustainable. But now the person's metabolism is all f'd up and even normal diet and exercise result in weight gain.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


Unfortunately this isn’t true.


You can keep repeating this all you want, it doesn’t make it true.


DP. List the programs with good long-term success rates or you’re just wrong. And yes, I will keep asking this question of anyone who claims long-term sustained weight loss is no big deal but doesn’t provide evidence to back that up.


The fact that people choose not to lose weight doesn’t mean it’s not controllable. It is hard so most people choose not to. If you put an overweight weight person in a controlled environment, they will lose the weight 99% of the time.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think it is when - like a colleague recently told me - it prevents people from accessing health care for fear of being dismissed because "if they just lost weight, xyz wouldn't be an issue." My coworker is facing major issues right now and she delayed going to the doctor for this very reason - "I don't want to walk into the office and just be told that I need to lose weight." That's a bigger deal than we realize, I think. Then it becomes a vicious cycle of compounding health issues.

Yep, this. I am very overweight, borderline obese. Doctors’ answer to just about any issue is “losing weight would help” (even when there is no documented correlation between weight and the medical issue), but if you ask them to recommend a program or specialist with good documented successful rates for long-term weight loss, they’re like deer in headlight. Then they mumble something about trying Weight Watchers and move on.


This. People can have attitudes about obesity all they want but there are very few resources that legitimately help people maintain weight loss.

I worked with a registered dietician, referred by my PCP, to lose weight for my A1C. She gave me a 1200 calorie a day diet. I asked about what happens after that? She had nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to offer. It's a complete joke.


Are you looking for a life coach to be by your side for the rest of your life to tell you to eat less?


If you're looking for a life coach, allow me to introduce you to every girl I went to high school with
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As a PP mentioned, I generally view obesity along the lines of smoking or abusing alcohol. With some exceptions, it's a problem that people have more control over than other health issues but it costs everyone paying for health insurance a lot of $$ so I can see why people who do make the effort to exercise, eat healthy, etc may not look highly on those who don't.

My ILs, for example, were both obese- ate horribly for years and lived very sedentary lives. Two years one of them had a very expensive (for insurance) major health problem and almost died. They were pretty much scared straight because the dr told them the IL would certainly die if they didn't change this lifestyle, and within months of this they had both lost massive amounts of weight just by walking and eating more normally. To their credit they have kept the weight off but they ignored doctors for years and this problem was completely avoidable so it's hard to be overly sympathetic.


Unfortunately this isn’t true.


You can keep repeating this all you want, it doesn’t make it true.


DP. List the programs with good long-term success rates or you’re just wrong. And yes, I will keep asking this question of anyone who claims long-term sustained weight loss is no big deal but doesn’t provide evidence to back that up.


The fact that people choose not to lose weight doesn’t mean it’s not controllable. It is hard so most people choose not to. If you put an overweight weight person in a controlled environment, they will lose the weight 99% of the time.


+1000
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