Claire but a post up the other day about obesity increasing your mortality risk.
She got loads of support, but one person commented that her thinking was “outdated” and she must be a “terrible coach”.
If by “terrible” you mean someone that focuses on the science and facts, and then enables people to make empowering changes, then yes, how terrible.
Smokers know that smoking is bad for them, some still choose to do it, but I’ve never met one that would argue it’s not bad for them.
We seem to have reached a place with body weight though where people will argue with the science in order to delude themselves that they’re not putting their health at risk.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the complex emotional, mental and socio-economic factors involved, but I am talking about the direct health risks of being obese.
There is a strong body of research linking obesity to a wide range of serious health issues, and indeed increased mortality risk.
One of the least talked about risk factors in the recent pandemic was obesity – being obese had a multiplier effect your chances of needing ICU, and of dying…
Yet that wasn’t a message that was pushed, even though 67% of the adult population of the UK is classed as overweight or obese.
Yes, we should be more inclusive with body shapes and happiness is not a dress size, but the facts are clear: being obese puts you at risk.
I’ve posted about this before and I believe it’s vitally important we understand the ramifications of broadcasting a fat but healthy message.
I wrote about this back in January when a team from the University of Madrid found that those who were obese but active had much poorer cardiac health than non-obese counterparts. The authors concluded that, “one cannot be fat but healthy. Our findings refute the notion that a physically active lifestyle can completely negate the deleterious effects of overweight and obesity.” A study from the University of Glasgow in 2021 that looked at almost 400,000 people reached the same conclusion: ”‘People with metabolically healthy obesity are not “healthy” as they are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke, heart failure, and respiratory diseases compared with people without obesity who have a normal metabolic profile. Weight management could be beneficial to all people with obesity irrespective of their metabolic profile.”
So, what Claire was saying wasn’t outdated, just unpopular.
Awareness precedes change, and this goes for our bodies as well. If we want to cling to a belief that it’s possible to be obese AND healthy, or that encouraging people to lose fat for health reasons is “outdated” then we really are in trouble.
What we resist persists, so what beliefs are you clinging to that are keeping you trapped in your current reality, and how could changing them serve you better?