Few would dispute that curbing rising rates of obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st Century, yet as a nation, we grapple with how to talk about being fat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even dances around the subject by labeling overweight kids "at risk for overweight" and obese kids "overweight."
One might argue that labeling any kids or adults is wrong, but you can’t solve the problem unless you name it and quantify it. Well, we’ve quantified it. Roughly one-third of adults are obese and two-thirds are overweight.
So now, we have to do something about this grossly expensive epidemic. Some employers facing ballooning health costs have taken punitive approaches to push their workers to lose weight. But arms flew up aghast when Chicago’s police chief dared to say that all officers must pass a physical fitness test. The police department already has a voluntary program that provides a $250 bonus to the cops that pass. Voluntary, clearly didn’t work
Some obesity experts say these punitive approaches to reduce obesity won’t work, and in fact, they are discriminating. Some have coined this "weightism."
Researchers at Yale University published a paper last month in the International Journal of Obesity saying discrimination based on weight is as much of a problem in American society as discrimination based on race or gender, especially for women and individuals with a Body Mass Index of 35 or higher (a 200 pound 5’4" person has a BMI of 35).
Many contributing factors to obesity are beyond individual control and simply suggesting that people exercise more and eat less probably won’t work, especially if you live in a neighborhood without safe streets and parks and no healthy food. But some behaviors are within our control, and progress cannot be made if political correctness overtakes frank discussions.
I asked one of the Yale study’s lead authors, Rebecca Puhl, about the study, discrimination and possible solutions to the obesity epidemic. Here are her answers:
