As a long time soldier in the battle against obesity I wanted to know if you are worried about a trend I am noticing and wonder if you see it also. Being obese is starting to no longer be a stigma or a source of ridicule, but acceptable. I point to two spots right off the top of my head, though I am sure there are others.
The first is the Governor of New Jersey. The second is a show, “Mike&Molly,” on CBS. The show focuses on an obese couple and their lives as “normal” Americans.
I also see a society looking at obesity like they do someone with a disability such as being blind or a person with a mental disability. In the past, the obese were — and I’m not saying this is okay — the subject of ridicule and bad names. They were discriminated against. If being obese becomes acceptable does that, if not already, spell game over? I am just asking. Sign me … — A colleague
Great observation. And from my perspective the answer is “yes and no.” What you are describing is fundamental social/psychology: What we learn, we practice. What we practice, we become. And what we become has consequences.
Ridiculing an obese person is, of course, cruel and often counterproductive. Although individuals need to take responsibility for their health, obesity has become institutionalized. It is a core social dysfunction that, as you correctly observe, has become socially acceptable and been made more so by the media. Add “The Biggest Loser” to your list of obesity-related TV programs that distort the issue. Then factor in all of the political and social accommodations to support the chronically and morbidly obese through extensive medical and sickness-care compensation.
As I repeatedly point out, the U.S. has the highest percentage of chronic disease in the world and ranks 17th in mortality among advanced industrial nations. That’s dead last. We spend more money than any nation, but end up poorer for the outcome. Doesn’t that stir you up a little bit?
But the game is not over by a long shot as long as there are dedicated professionals in the fields of health, physical education and recreation. That’s the big rub. These fields of professional endeavor are way off track. They are lost. They have feeble leadership mostly found in college and university research departments. Most of their attention goes to science and arguing about styles of competing exercise and diet schemes.
Professionals in these fields have an awesome opportunity and an even bigger challenge. Yes, the system is screwed up and there’s lots of politics but the game is never over so long as there remains a few who want to win. When they work doing the right thing for the right reasons and do not care who gets credit, magic happens.
They must unite, recruit others and build a team of the committed. Make a plan. Execute the plan. When it doesn’t get you where you want to go, don’t quit. Improve the plan. THEN DO IT!
—Da Coach