Imagining Obesity (A defense of overweight people)

After traveling in Europe for six weeks, I flew to New York and was ready to take off to the west coast of my beloved country, the USA. I took a seat in the back of the plane and soon a large American woman approached me from the aisle with four overweight children waddling behind her.

“Could we get in please?” the mother asked.
I stood up and let the mother-daughter combo slide in beside me. While the other three sat down behind me.

Loud bickering erupted from behind.

“You got the window seat last time!” One girl exclaims.
“NO, I was here first!” Retorts the other.
“But you can’t steal it from me!” Yells the first child.
“MOM!!” Cries the second.

Mom chimed in to settle the suits and soon the long five hour flight from New York to Phoenix began. Time for TV. The mother quickly slid her credit card for her four kids to gain access to unlimited movies, music and TV. The kids wined about not having headphones and exclaimed their excitement for Dominos Pizza that night. Then, the real kicker came.

Mom pulled out a jumbo-sized, crinkled bag of Mcdonalds. Digging her hand into the bag, an array of five packaged, greasy burgers and fries soon appeared.

“Here you go girls.” She exclaimed while handing out each meal.

My thoughts were then confirmed: we MUST be in America now.

Obesity might be the greatest killer in the United States. It contributes heavily to the top three leading causes of death in the US (Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke, respectively) and to Diabetes as well (#7 leading cause of death) (1). Our nation is now crumbling beneath the weight of the problem (get it?), by the deaths of people and our finances.

It is estimated that healthier diets might prevent $71 billion per year in medical
costs, lost productivity, and the value of premature deaths associated
with these conditions (1).

34% of US citizens are now obese (up from 15% in the early 80s) (2).

One third of white children and one half of Latinos born in the 2000s will develop Diabetes in their lifetimes (and 80% of those with type II Diabetes are overweight). (3)

But what is it that’s making us so fat? And why can’t fat people start making good choices?

One of my old friends used to mention how he didn’t feel bad for overweight people because it was their fault. I find that the general sentiment from people who have their weight under control goes something like this:
“Fat people don’t HAVE to go eat fast food all of the time.”
“Fat people COULD exercise if they really cared about their bodies.”
“It’s THEIR fault for being fat.”

But for a second, imagine being one of these children on the plane. You’ve been surrounded your entire life by TV and quickly prepared and artificially preserved food. You have developed a strong desire for fats, sugars and salty treats that is reinforced multiple times a day by the food you are given. Mom works hard to raise you, but does not have the time to cook. You are overweight, but so is mom and so are your sisters. They are your support group and they don’t seem to mind at all.

At some point in your life, maybe Jr. High or High School, someone will probably laugh at you for being overweight. And someone else might offer suggestions for what you should do. But not only were you not raised to see it as a problem, you were never told to value anyone's opinions for body improvement or their recommendations for other health options. Your eating habits are so constrained by your family that you do not even have the leverage to change your eating habits. So you bounce off negative comments about your weight and lifestyle and find refuge in other peers who are like you: overweight.

You are obese, but is it your fault?

Or is it your mother’s fault?

Your grandmother’s?

The fast food corporation's?

The economy's?

Later in life, after much deliberation and listening to your well meaning friends, you might begin to want to lose weight. But how? What should you eat? How should you exercise? How do you maintain motivation for all of this when your family has none?

Your upbringing in this area has been somewhat of a stroll through a valley that has now reached a crux at a rocky mountain pass. Some of us were guided through the mountains and not permitted to stay idle in the valley. We find the upward climb to be at times difficult, but manageable. We think there must be a level playing field for everyone.

But we never grew up like you did. We were given low risk genes, positive life examples, ample money, and caretakers that made us be active (4). We grew up in families that did not smoke, and were encouraged to pursue education (I'm lucky to say this was my case).

We already endured trials that we had no idea were trials. And today our childhood serves as a template for our own healthy living and a hindering roadblock for our understanding of others.

Sources.
1. USDA data.
2. USA Today Article
3. Understanding Obesity (Obesityinamerica.org)
4. Obesity Risk Factors