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“She’s a fat piglet.”
These are the words Donald Trump used to describe Khloé Kardashian when she appeared on his reality show, “The Apprentice.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t a one-time occurrence. Before the Kardashian sister’s noticeable weight loss, Khloé was frequently referred to as “the fat Kardashian” or “the ugly Kardashian.”
In a culture that promotes thin bodies, men and women who don’t fall under thin standards – celebrity or not – are fat shamed in the same manner.
Thankfully, however, the rise of the body positivity has continuously encouraged men and women around the world to embrace all of their curves. Various Instagram users, such as @gabifresh, @brittypysar and @nadiaaboulhosn are well-known for being unapologetically plus size. These accounts have thousands of followers, many of whom praise them for being an inspiration for plus size women.
“Scales are quite simply passé, and there’s no accurate way to measure fabulousness,” says Virgie Tovar, social scientist, author and prominent leader of the burgeoning fat activist movement.
On her blog, YouTube channel, San Francisco radio show, articles, lectures at colleges nationwide, interviews and daily outfits, Tovar is another woman who affirms that weighing more does not mean you are worth less. She encourages overweight people to love themselves in a way that’s as full as their figures.
But as positive as this message may seem, detractors of the movement have pointed out that the “All you need is love” attitude adopted by some activists ignores the reality that, for some Americans, being plus size means they are unhealthy and at a higher risk of disease.
In light of a movement that builds up self-love and mental health in fat people, is this encouragement unhealthy?
“I wonder how Tess will feel one day if a crying child explains to her that her mummy died because she accepted being too fat because of the message promoted by her,” says outspoken weight loss expert Steve Miller about the overwhelming popularity of Tess Holliday, a model ranked by Vogue Italia as one of the most influential plus-sized models in the world. Holliday is the first model of her size (280 pounds) and height (5 feet 5 inches) to be signed to an agency, making her the world’s first size 22 supermodel.
“Of course being too thin is equally dangerous, but the extreme fat acceptance that Tess is promoting is arguably even worse because of the shocking explosion in the obesity statistics. With fat being aligned to cancer, strokes and heart disease, the message should be that being too fat is unacceptable and can kill you,” Miller adds.
Miller’s argument, however, brings to light the obesity paradox: Is it possible to be obese and healthy?
But before answering this question, you must be able to distinguish between “overweight” and “obese.” Although both terms are used to define excessive fat accumulation, overweight people are those with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25. Obese men and women, on the other hand, have a BMI greater than or equal to 30. And because BMI values change depending on weight-to-height ratios, an “overweight” and “obese” weight from one person may be different for another person.
In a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it concludes that overweight people live a little bit longer than their skinnier peers. However, this study was criticized because it didn’t look at the health of the men and women in the study. To make up for it, a new analysis published on the Annals of Internal Medicine shows how preexisting conditions affect overweight and obese bodies.
According to the new study, people of any weight who suffer from from high blood pleasure, high cholesterol and insulin resistance – also known as metabolic syndrome – are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The risk of dying earlier from these causes rises as the amount of excess weight rises. The study highlights, however, that “people who were obese without having metabolic syndrome also had a higher risk of death, so they weren’t protected by being healthier.”
“It’s not OK to be overweight. It’s not OK to be obese, even though you might not have metabolic abnormalities,” says Dr. Caroline Kramer (via National Public Radio), an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital who led the new study. As NPR writes, if both physical states could really coexist, “it would mean that some of the 38 percent of Americans who are obese might not have to lose lots of pounds to get or stay healthy.”
Although this study tried to look deeper into the science behind overweight and obese bodies, it, too, was criticized because it fails to factor in physical fitness. “[The study] is junk science,” Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D., an exercise and wellness professor at Arizona State University, tells The Huffington Post. “It fails to factor in the very important, well-established contribution of cardiorespiratory fitness to overall health. The fact that they did not [include fitness] renders this study almost uninterpretable.”
And as Anna Almendrala from The Huffington Post points out, several studies support Gaesser’s claim. For instance, exercise scientist Vaughn Barry, Ph.D.’s study shows that physical fitness is what determines a person’s lifespan. Regardless of one’s weight, unfit people have twice the risk of dying earlier than fit people. Additionally, overweight and obese people who were fit were found to have similar mortality risks as “normal weight” participants.
In fact, even Dr. Kramer agrees with the relationship between lifespan and exercise habits. “Ideally you should look at metabolic factors, weight and fitness,” says Dr. Kramer to The Huffington Post. “But this is a question for future studies.”
With the movement in the hands of activists like Virgie Tolvar, burgeoning body positivity has done wonders for people stuck in cycles of self-shaming and negative body image. But while the movement has bettered the mental health of some, it’s important to consider whether or not “loving your body” also includes caring for it by exercising and living a healthier lifestyle.
