Okay, then, what is the problem? Some folks think the problem is anybody who believes that an obese person needs counseling about the drawbacks of remaining in that condition, or who tries to find answers that can eliminate or at least alleviate the burden of carrying around a detrimental amount of fat.
Sadly, some folks preach that the main thing wrong with the world is anti-fat bias. They seem to believe that the slightest mention or hint that to remain obese would not be in an individual’s best interest is a vile insult which violates that individual’s humanity.
“Fat activists” like Virginia Sole-Smith think they have a duty to correct all the people who see obesity as an unhealthy state, or at least as a condition that could lead to health problems. She authored a book titled Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture, which aims to correct the worldview of people who believe that childhood obesity is a problem that needs to be addressed.
The other side
Rachel Bowman wrote a review, and while Dailymail.com has since removed it from their website, we did copy it some time ago as research material. It is brought up now because the annoying mindset that inspired it has not disappeared.
With scorn for both “diet culture” and anti-fat bias, Sole-Smith has claimed that any attempt to control a child’s weight is bad. (However, it seems that folks hooked up to her Instagram account voiced strong disagreement, mentioning the increasing rates of both diabetes and of costs to healthcare systems.)
Sole-Smith has told journalists that her own kids are routinely served snacks and desserts because when parents restrict certain kinds of food (like the ones containing fat, sugar, and chemical additives), their children will grow up lacking the ability to make informed decisions about what is or is not suitable. It is an interesting theory, but one which has been widely contested.
Medical profession criticized
Folks who possess this mindset are angry that doctors presume to advise their patients to slim down, because weight loss cannot solve all medical problems. So, it seems they believe it should not be prescribed for, or attempted by, anyone at all — a rather narrow viewpoint, to say the least.
“Treat patients as they are” is one of the slogans, and on closer examination it does not make much sense. A doctor treats a patient with a hip fracture like a patient with a hip fracture — by attempting to correct that distressing and disabling condition. A doctor treats a patient with pneumonia like a patient with pneumonia — by trying to cure it and make sure it doesn’t return. We could go on like this all day, but hopefully, the point is made.
“Sure, go ahead and let the sick person continue to live with pneumonia. As long as they can do normal stuff like get back and forth to the bathroom, or hold a phone conversation, what’s the problem?” That is hardly a sane point of view, and any doctor who voiced it should probably be forbidden to practice.
Sole-Smith uses the example of drug addiction to assert that all patients, even addicts, “are worthy of dignity and respect… It doesn’t matter whether you caused it, doctors are supposed to meet you where you are.” Except for one thing… What kind of a lousy doctor would think it’s okay to leave the patient still being an addict? Around here, we too believe that a patient should be accorded every ounce of dignity and respect — while at the same time being advised that obesity is not a desirable condition to remain in, and that there are ways out of it.
Refutation
Bowman’s review included words from Kelly Brownell, professor emeritus of public policy at Duke University, who said,
I think it’s possible to simultaneously hold in your mind that the condition of obesity is concerning, while at the same time protecting the rights of the people who have it… You can think of many other parallels, like depression or alcoholism, where you don’t want the people who have these things to be stigmatized — there are clearly negative effects of that — but it doesn’t mean you discount the ravages of those diseases.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Fat activist who thinks childhood obesity is a myth”, MSN.com
Image by GDJ/Pixabay
FAQs and Media Requests: 
