Fatphobia and Body-Shaming, the X Factor in Obesity Research

In the midst of the body-positivity movement, many propagate that a person cannot be fat and fit at the same time. This argument isn't new. A study published findings that people with high body mass indexes were at a higher risk for high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension than those with a normal range of BMIs.

The Relationship Between Exercise and Obesity

A study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology entitled, "Join an association of physical activity and body mass index with cardiovascular risk: a nationwide population-based cross-sectional study," concludes that higher BMIs equate to higher medical risks.

The relationship stood when people with bigger bodies had regular physical activity. Hence, weight loss should remain the primary target of health policies aiming to reduce cardiovascular disease risks, the authors of the study wrote.

The study misses the acknowledgment that the stigma of weight gain--fatphobia--impacted the study's design, participants' health, and the overall understanding of weight and health.

It's important to note that the conclusion contradicts several previous studies. In 2017 a study entitled, "Impact of physical activity on the association of overweight and obesity with cardiovascular disease: The Rotterdam Study" followed 5,344 Dutch participants from 15-55 years of age. The study shows that people with high BMIS who had higher physical activity levels showed no increased risks for CVDs compared to equally active people with a normal range of BMI.

(Photo: Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Pexels)

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The Obesity Paradox

The Obesity Paradox is a term in the scientific literature that describes the startling findings that fat people aren't dying from CVDs like we've all been told. But the term itself is a prime example of fatphobia or weight stigma, says Jeffrey Hunger, an assistant professor of social psychology at Miami University.

A 2016 analysis collated from 21,000 Americans found a significant link between a person's experience with fatphobia and increased incidence of stomach ulcers, heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes despite researchers controlling subjects' physical activity levels and BMIs and socioeconomic status.

Other studies show that experience with fatphobia and body0shaming consistently increases physiological stress responses and cortisol levels linked with negative health effects.

Despite the recent research concluding that a person can't be fat and fit simultaneously, it showed how physical activity effectively reduces a person's risks of cardiovascular diseases than less active people in the same weight class.

Hence, fat people may have increased risks of high blood pressure and diabetes than thin people, but the rift is less enormous.

Additionally, fat people that live active lifestyles are less likely to develop CVD than if they didn't exercise. This means a person can still improve health through physical activity even if you don't drastically lose weight at getting thin in the process.

According to Allied Market Research reports, research like this is often buried because the weight loss industry was valued at $192.2 billion in 2019.