Perceptions on Obesity

Author: Marshall Melnychuk

If you have young children like I do then Dr. Seuss books are probably well known to you. One of my favourites is “The Sneetches” and while my children like it because of the illustrations of Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s wild machines and the wonderful rhythm, I continue to read it because the lesson is one I hope my children come to deeply understand. It’s the lesson of prejudice and discrimination in subtle and not so subtle forms.

Prejudice is an area of non-tolerance for me but I have to admit I’m not completely free of it myself. It’s a tricky one and over the last few months I have had to re-examine my thinking, specifically when it comes to people that are obese.

I guess I was like many average Canadians(I’m not sure what the ‘average’ Canadian really is but let’s say there is a bunch of them) that would see the average obese person and have the thought run through my brain, “man, just get off the couch and stay away from the fridge. How can you let yourself get to that point”?

So for today let’s say that the average Canadian has a ‘star upon thars’, that is, a star on their belly denoting their special status, and in this case that special status is not being one of the 5.5 million obese Canadian adults which have none upon thars.

There is a fairly common perception among those of us with stars-upon-thars, that obese people have brought it all on themselves purely through a lack of discipline. Of course being that we are talking about people, it’s not quite that simple. Will power has a role but the human condition (and social conditioning) are so complex that making these broad strokes to categorize millions of people may work en-masse but never for any individual.

It is obvious that obese people are subjected to discrimination in our society. We don’t need studies to prove it although many do exist. In general obese people are downwardly mobile – that is they are more likely to have their income decrease and are less likely to receive promotions. If you have an honest moment with yourself take note of how you and others react to the presence of a severely obese person in a social encounter. It is clear that the obese person is shunned to some degree, and for no other apparent reason than they are obese. I’ve seen it myself, many times. I’ve done it myself.

So let’s bring the Sneetches back in. Of approximately 21 million Canadian adults, about 10 million are overweight, and 5.5 million are obese. This overweight group comprises the majority of adult Canadians – they are the ‘average’ Canadian, the ones with stars upon thars, the ones who commonly look down their snoots at those without stars – the obese population.

So here is where the complexity of the human condition comes back in. As it turns out, and studies show, a large percentage (I can’t find accurate studies for obese Canadian adults) of obese adults either have a mental or physical condition which predisposes them towards obesity or, they have grown up in a lower socioeconomic portion of the population or, they have been subjected to mental, physical or sexual abuse as children.

Again, this is what the statistics show for the population en-masse, every individual story is unique. But consider the fairness of projecting a ‘lacks self discipline’ label on the next obese person that walks through the door without knowing any details of their life. How easy would it be for you to practise a life of healthy habits battling demons from years gone by.

Most of us average Canadians grew up in households with only mildly crazy families, with parents and siblings that actually loved us, and without major emotional scars to carry. If that is your situation and you’re having trouble seeing your belt buckle, think again about the self discipline, who is it more applicable to?

You may notice that I’ve left out a significant portion of Canadian adults here. My numbers above still leaves about 6 million adults that are not either obese or overweight. Statistically these tend to be the younger adults, those between 18 and 30. It gets more difficult to maintain optimal health or optimal weight as you age for numerous reasons. How many people over 45 do you know that could not stand to, or want to lose 5 or 10 pounds? I personally know one, just one, man over 40 (other than serious athletes) that is so completely disciplined with his exercise and diet as to have an ideal body weight.

But he is an outlier and definitely not the norm. The point of this whole commentary is the same group of average Canadians that commonly view the obese as having low self discipline are the same group that are themselves overweight due to not implementing regimented healthy behaviours. There is a great deal more to obesity than meets the eye, and like discrimination towards any portion of the population, lack of knowledge about that group plays a large role in creating those broad beliefs.

Author: Marshall Melnychuk is a manager and partner at iQuest Healthcare and Fitness Centre. For more information go to www.iquesthealth.ca

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