ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Fat and Fit: Can Overweight People Be Healthy?

Updated on September 28, 2015
Can fitness at every body size be achieved?
Can fitness at every body size be achieved? | Source

The craze to be ever thinner, ever fitter and to fit into a very narrow ideal of the perfect person may be worse for us than a few extra pounds.

  • Are fat people always unhealthy?
  • Is skinny right for everyone?
  • Are fat-shaming and the stigmas attached to being overweight in America a healthy attitude for the country?
  • Do overweight people always over-eat?

Here is an honest look at fat and health with scientific studies to back up the findings.

Thin Is In

Thin is in and has been for a long time. The cult of thin, the obsession with every lump or bump on our body has created a dichotomy of haves and have nots.

There are those that are naturally thin—who can eat anything, exercise small to moderate amounts and still have that long lean body that lands on the cover of magazines.

There are also those who are thin through a rigorous routine of diet, exercise, personal trainers and hours every day at the gym.

There are others who eat healthy, count their calories, exercise and obsess and still fall far short of their goals. The shame they feel every time they reach for a clothing item in the plus size section is palpable.

But what is behind this country’s obsession with fat? Could the idea that thin is the only way to health be a stretch?

Who or what do you think is the biggest contributor to fat-shaming and bullying?

See results

Exercise

We can all agree that exercise is important to good health. But must we all run marathons to be healthy?

A study out of the Tampa Bay Times by Tom Valeo indicates that exercise benefits people of all sizes, from the thin and athletic to the obese.

In the extensive study of over 43,000 people, Dr. Francisco Ortega noted that “We measured fitness, which is largely influenced by exercise. Once fitness is accounted for, our study shows for the first time that metabolically healthy but obese individuals have similar prognosis as metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals."

The take-away from all of this is that exercise is important and beneficial to people of all shapes and sizes.

However, the stigma of exercising at a gym or even taking a stroll through the neighborhood when one is overweight may inhibit an overweight person from taking up an exercise routine.

Just remember, you don’t have to be thin to benefit from exercise.

Longevity

In another surprising study covered by Christina Earle in The Sun, it found that people who have a few extra pounds may actually be healthier and live longer than their thinner counterparts.

People who have BMI’s in what is considered the unhealthy range actually may have better health.

There are many reasons for this. Some chronically thin people are thin because they are sick. Also, thin people have no extra reserves if they do get sick. The body stores fat as a reserve in times of starvation or in illness. Those reserves may actually help to keep older, fatter people healthier through regular illnesses and extended ones.

Thin people may also wrongly think that they can eat what they want, when they want, because they are thin. This can lead to bad food choices which ultimately make them sick.

People with extra weight tend to live longer.

Food stigmas can keep overweight people from enjoying their meal.
Food stigmas can keep overweight people from enjoying their meal. | Source

Eating

The Portland Examiner noted in a recent article that eating healthy can actually turn into an unhealthy obsession. The diet industry, fads, and trends may cause nutritional deficits and may make someone feel like they are doing something good for their body when they are really not.

And here’s the real kicker. Fat people are not always over-eaters. Many people of all ages and sizes watch what they eat, check their portions, eat balanced meals of vegetables, lean meats, and fruits, and still retain extra pounds.

The assumption is that all overweight people over-indulge on fast food and drink the extra large sodas and that by just limiting them we can all be thin and healthy. This is mostly a myth. Sure there are some that do this and their health is obviously going to be affected when they fill themselves up with fats and sugars. But it is not always the cause or the norm.

But the idea that fat people shouldn’t eat persists. That they should always be dieting or that surely they must eat more than you as thin person is a damaging inference.

Diets

The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar machine. The latest diet du jour will be seen as passé’ as hungry-to-be thin people move on to the next one, hoping for that magic formula that makes them young, thin and desirable.

But studies prove that diets don’t work.

According to Phylis Canion of The Examiner, diets are at best a temporary solution. They offer extreme ideas on what to eat (only drink juice for a week, cabbage for a month!) and are usually abandoned when the result, however temporary doesn’t work or doesn’t last.

But changing your lifestyle and eating healthy is not the answer to all as far as weight loss.

Not surprisingly, people metabolize food differently. Some have very quick metabolisms and some have very slow ones. Also, not surprising is the fact that people inherit their tendencies for body size and shape.

What We Can Do

It’s time for fat-shaming and stigmas to end. Fighting back against the narrow definition of beauty and fitness involves dispelling the myths and discarding the idea that beauty is measured by a number on your clothing tags.

People like The Fat Nutritionist are working to get the message out there that health and beauty can be found at every size.

But it only takes a few minutes of reading a site like hers to see the amount of hate and vitriol that appears in the comments.

People are threatened by the idea of it being okay to be overweight. The idea that we might have been sold a lie, that all that money spent on extreme exercise, gym memberships and the latest fad diet kits may not be the key to living to be a 150 is a threat to our very understanding of health.

By working to change attitudes now, we can help insure the next generation will have a healthier attitude about body size.
By working to change attitudes now, we can help insure the next generation will have a healthier attitude about body size. | Source

Whether you are fat, thin or in-between, it is time to stand up for people of all sizes. Making assumptions about a person based on their weight, shaming and stigmatizing them in public is still far too acceptable.

While we would not sit by and allow someone to be belittled because of their race or gender, many are perfectly fine suggesting that someone shouldn’t eat that slice of cheese or perhaps should order the salad and skip dessert.

The proof is out there and the rigid ideas of health and fitness are eroding.

At the very least, we can help insure that the next generation has better ideas and attitudes about health and fitness.

Be proud of yourself and your size. Beauty comes in all shapes.

It Is Possible To Be Overweight and Fit

References

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)