Forget Everything You (Think You) Know About Obesity

Nov 15, 2018

In 1847, a doctor called Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that washing your hands drastically reduced childbed fever and deaths among mothers in the maternity ward.

Doctors at the time refused to believe that what they were doing could possibly be killing their patients, so they refused to listen. Unfortunately, Semmelweis was placed in an insane asylum for his crazy ideas instead of getting rewarded.

This is not the only time that medical science and doctors failed to see the real cause of a potential illness. Centuries ago, sailors frequently died from scurvy. More sailors died from scurvy than from shipwrecks, war and syphilis combined.

The disease started with bleeding gums, and then the person's teeth would gradually fall out. Before long, the entire body started to rot and die.

For most of this time, people actually knew what was causing scurvy. During the 1600s, sea captains would give their sailors limes, lemons and oranges because they believed that citrus fruit could prevent scurvy. Since these fruits contain vitamin C, they actually did prevent the disease.

The British Navy ended the practice because they believed that it was too expensive. Instead, sailors were given malt wort, which had no vitamin C at all. Then, a doctor called James Lind discovered that citrus fruits actually did prevent scurvy.

He gave just one group of sailors citrus fruits, and the other group received cider, vinegar or seawater. In 1747, Lind published his findings. No one actually used his results for 50 years.

This type of situation occurs over and over again throughout history. An innovator discovers the cause of a disease, but it takes decades or centuries for it to be adopted. In our current era, obesity is a similar problem.

The way we are treating obesity does not target the root of the problem, and we already know the real cause. We have just failed to put our knowledge into action.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 80 percent of American adults are overweight or obese. More people suffer from extreme obesity than Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, HIV and Parkinson’s disease together. For the last 40 years, Americans have continued to get larger and larger.

Unfortunately, the response has been to blame and ostracize people for being overweight. There is a stereotype that people deserve to be obese because they are too lazy, eat poorly and never exercise. People even believe that obese people are hurting everyone else by increasing the cost of health care.

With this type of societal attitude, it is unsurprising that so many Americans are terrified of gaining weight. About 45 percent of adults say that they are preoccupied with their weight all or some of the time. Almost half of the girls between the ages of 3 to 6 are worried about being fat. Because of these fears, Americans spend more on diet products than going to the movies or buying video games.

Emotionally, this epidemic has taken a humongous toll. Thin people are anxious and constantly looking for ways to stay thin. Obese individuals feel ashamed and embarrassed because society tells them that their weight is entirely their fault.

If you get to know anyone who is obese, you will find that they have at least one story of being bullied because of their weight. They can tell you about doctors and loved ones who told them that they just needed more willpower.

This attitude is harmful in more ways than one. There are countless people who never join a gym or work out because they are afraid of being judged for their weight. The brave individuals who do go jogging are stared at and ridiculed by strangers.

Society has the attitude that people are overweight because they are too lazy to work out, but then people are judged when they actually do exercise.

Understandably, some people become afraid of being in photos because of these stereotypes. They avoid going to the beach or wearing shorts when the weather is searing hot. The worst part about all of this is that no one has to live this way. We have known what causes obesity for 60 years, but we have not put this information into action.

If you genuinely gained weight from not exercising and eating a terrible diet, it will certainly impact your health.

As long as you eat healthily and have a healthy lifestyle, your weight does not actually determine your overall health. There is even evidence that suggests that obese individuals can still be metabolically healthy. They also show no indication of insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure or high cholesterol.

In comparison, about 25 percent of non-overweight individuals are actually unhealthy. A study in 2016 looked at people over 19 years. The study found that unfit thin people had twice the chance of getting diabetes as healthy fat people. The main determinant of diabetes risk was lifestyle choices and not someone's weight.

All of this research means that our intense focus on diets and fat shaming is not going to work.

For 60 years, we have known that healthy habits matter more than weight. Now, we need to shift the paradigm. Instead of focusing on being thin, we need to embrace healthier lifestyles instead.

If you want to change the obesity paradigm, make sure to tell everyone you know about this research. What do you think about the findings of these studies? Let us know in the comments!

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!