Fight the flab, beat the bulge and count the calories. We’ve all heard the mantras of the weight-loss brigade and I can bet nearly every one of us could quote our height, weight and body mass index without giving it much thought. For example, I’m … no, I’ll reveal that little secret later.
But in recent years our weight, and our right to choose whether or not to change it, has stopped being a private issue and has moved into the realm of public policy. With headlines screaming: ‘Obesity could bankrupt the NHS’[1], the government and health authorities are working overtime to change the nation’s waistline.
Image courtesy of didbygraham
Celebrity campaigns
Celebrity campaigns in the UK such as ‘Jamie’s school dinners’, which have led to the compulsory reduction of junk food in schools and legislation to ban the advertising of unhealthy snacks on children’s television, hope to encourage the upcoming generation towards good eating habits. But the debate goes on. Who’s to blame: the parents; the schools; the media; the convenience culture?
An influential report in the British Medical Journal[2], which revealed that obesity took up 9% of the NHS budget, suggested that a fat helpline number be printed on the labels of larger-sized clothes. A report by the World Health Organisation revealed that over a billion people worldwide are overweight and that around 70% of all illnesses are weight-related.[3]
So our weight is no longer measured on a scale but as a financial cost to the system. And I bet it won’t be long before we can work out, along with our carbon footprint, exactly how much our weight ‘costs’.
A visible vice
As someone noted on a recent internet forum when I mentioned that I was doing this article, fat is a visible vice. Issues with overeating are far more difficult to hide than drinking, smoking and participating in reckless activities, all of which have negative affects on the NHS and society at large. Nine per cent of the health budget may be spent on the obese (people with a BMI of over 30) but between £300 and £400 million a year are ‘wasted’ on people with stress-related illnesses within the health sector alone.[4] Come on people: just say ‘no’ to stress!
Hang on, I hear you say, surely it’s not a bad thing to encourage healthier bodies and lifestyles. Of course not. Good health is a precious thing; but what concerns me in the politicisation of fat is the stigmatising of people who are considered a burden on tax-payers’ pockets. And that’s what it comes down to. Your fat is no longer your business because it has an impact on the girth of my wallet.
Vital Statistics
I am appalled at the way overweight people are now being portrayed as simply a drain on the system. And perhaps now is the point where I reveal my own vital statistics. Just when you were beginning to think, ‘oh here’s another fatty trying to justify her lack of self-control’, here are the metric facts:
- I am 1.57 m in height.
- I am 50 kg in weight.
- I have a BMI of 20.3 (well within the healthy range).
- My waist/hip ratio is 0.7 (apparently the optimum for fertility and brainpower!)[5]
- I wear a UK size 8/10.
- I am 38 years old.
- I have given birth in the last three years.
- I have no criminal record.
- I’m self-employed and …
- I recycle!
So by nearly every official standard I am a model citizen. At least on the outside. On the inside I am the same mix of good and bad, healthy attitudes and destructive insecurities as everyone else. And bringing it into a Christian context, I’m just as much a ‘sinner’ as my fatter neighbour. It would be easy to consider myself slightly more virtuous because at least I have my weight under control, but that wouldn’t be accurate. In my case, I’m naturally thin. I’ve never dieted, I only exercise moderately and I don’t always eat five fruit and veg a day. OK, I don’t stuff myself with food and only have small portions, but that’s because I don’t need any more. I’m not driven by the complex of physical and emotional compulsions that beset people with weight issues. I wouldn’t mind being a bit more toned and have a little less cellulite, but by and large, I’ve got a good package. The fact is I was born this way. To assume I’m morally superior because of it, would be like claiming I’m more intelligent simply because I’m a natural brunette (tempting though that is!)
Who are you to judge?
I’m well aware that there are people who have conquered their weight issues by sheer hard work, but they too should not be quick to judge. God has called us to love our neighbours and have compassion on those who fail to live up to society’s standards. And if He can have compassion on everyone who fails to live up to His standards (which is all of us), who are we to withhold that grace from others. Under-age single mothers, people with lifestyle-induced cancers, the millions of people suffering with sexually transmitted diseases, drug addictions, alcohol addictions, gambling addictions … who are we to withhold love and compassion from them?
Thin thoughts
Before we close this subject, I would like to say something about being underweight. As much as I’m concerned by the anti-obesity campaign, I’m equally troubled by the witch-hunt around so-called Size Zeros. There are serious health issues linked to being underweight, and young women, particularly, suffer the consequences of eating disorders in their quest to achieve an unattainable goal. But not every slim person is underweight, nor do they have eating disorders. All my life I’ve been on the receiving end of snide comments from larger people suggesting I’m anorexic or eat too little. At church functions some well-meaning fuller-figured person will pile food on my plate, suggesting I need to fatten up. And when my daughter was only six months old and comfortably on the 9th growth percentile, a health visitor told me to make sure I didn’t impose my ‘ideas about eating’ on her!
It’s a horrible feeling to think that there must be something wrong with you and in this way I can identify with overweight people. The truth is I’m not underweight. I’m the right weight for me. But even if I wasn’t, who are you to judge?
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Waist-hip ratio
It’s widely recognised that BMI is not always an accurate measurement of a person’s health. For example, a well-toned 100 kg professional rugby player with a BMI of 30 may be far from unhealthy as muscle weighs more than fat. So some health professionals are moving towards using a waist-hip ratio (WHR), which is simply the ratio of your waist circumference to your hip circumference.
Although people’s weight and BMI may vary widely, as long as they have a WHR of around 0.7 for Caucasian women and 0.9 for Caucasian men, they are considered healthy. Asians may have a slightly lower WHR and Africans slightly higher but still be considered healthy within their ethnic group.
‘Size Zero’
Size 0 is an American dress size, the equivalent of a UK Size 4. However, it’s now become a derogatory label for any slim woman, and many so-called Size Zeros may not in fact be that size. Someone once called me a Size Zero, when I was actually a Size 8 (American Size 4) and I certainly hadn’t starved myself to get to that weight.
If you have any concerns about being over or underweight, visit your GP. For general health advice on weight issues and any other questions visit NHS Direct.
Footnotes
[1] BBC News 24, 15 December 2006
[2] ‘Obesity, Can We Turn the Tide?’, Laurence Gruer, George Alberti, Naveed Sattar, British Medical Journal, 16 December 2006
[3] ‘Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health’, WHO, 2007.
[4] ‘Workplace Stress’, NHS Employers, 2007
[5] ‘Waist-hip ratio and Cognitive Ability’, Lassek, W and Gaulin, S., Evolution and Human Behaviour, July 2007
First published in Plain Truth, January 2008
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Welcome to my site - I'm Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, author, playwright and writing teacher. This site contains thoughts and articles I've written on a range of topics. I hope you find them useful.
I think what may not have been addressed here Fi is the mental state of those who are over or under weight. Many of them do have eating disorders and speaking from experience the mental state of an anorexic or compulsive over eater is desperate. I can only think that if society is becoming increasingly more obese then they are increasingly seeking to ‘fill’ something they cannot in everyday life. and I think that is indicative of our increasingly insular society, a tendency to ‘communicate’ or connect through media devices (like this one!) and a resulting loneliness and isolation. I think if we could live more in community, do with less (materially as well as nutritionally) and focus ourselves more outwardly that we would probably see a reduction in this disease….wishful thinking!
YOu’re absolutely right. I didn’t feel there was scope in this article to go further into the psychological dimension as I wanted to make a point about the villification of the ‘abnormal’ by society. You’re quite right, of course, that from the individual’s perspective this is a serious and complex issue. Thanks for adding a different perspective.