I have recently gotten into a heated debate with my best friend about weight and its relationship to health and longevity. It all started with us discussing Lizzo (the very curvy American artist):Ok, so first of all, I LOVE Lizzo for the great artist she is, I listen to all of her songs. I do, however, have a problem with how she promotes her weight to be a good thing. Of course, not alllllll the time; sometimes it is just about body positivity and being ok with yourself. But some of her songs sound more like she actually thinks being THICC like her is good. For example:
In her videos she is often very skimpy with her clothing, and in a few of them she is portrayed either eating/drinking or cooking. Sometimes, it seems almost as if Lizzo it trying to capitalise on the commotion that she knows she will cause by promoting obesity.
So the debate was my friend disagreeing with my perception of Lizzo, primarily on the point that she is promoting obesity. My friend thinks that Lizzo is in fact promoting a healthy body image that has previously been distorted by celebrities and society into something unhealthy. When I brought up the fact that most medical research/info I found online actually states that excessive weight can lead to various health problems, my friend clapped back by saying that most of this research is outdated and wrong. She says that most medical practitioners would now agree that previous assumptions about extra fat being unhealthy were based on hate and stereotyping.
I am not a medical expert or anything. And I do know that fat is generally necessary so a woman’s body can function properly. But I always thought they meant fat in the range of 20-35%. Something like this being the median ‘optimal’ fat percentage:However, my friend told me that my beliefs are in fact out of date.
Their only justification to call it healthy, is mental health, which not even by that metric is it healthy.
I can understand having depression and what not from poor self-esteem, but those negative mental thoughts are there for a reason. Like if your leg is in pain because it's broken, then you're problem isn't the fact you're in pain and need pain killers, it's the fact you have a broken leg and it needs fixing... the pain is just there to tell you there's a problem.
Honestly, i think it would be wise for people to have more sensitivity towards the obese, because using the stick on them is only going to make things worse. Like all addiction problems, they're all pretty much a coping mechanism in response to some type of untreated mental trauma, so making them feel worse about themselves without the use of the carrot, is only going to make things worse and make them retreat into the coping mechanism even more.
But even though it's wise to treat this issue with sensitivity, it's not compassionate to feed their delusion that said coping mechanism is the answer and isn't in itself seriously harmful. A small percentage of body fat is healthy (healthier than say 0%), but once you get to the point of obesity, you are seriously effecting your health. As the saying goes; "there's a lot of fat people, and there's a lot of old people, but there aren't' many fat old people".
There is a happy medium. Women carry more % fat and that's fine, and curves are normal as there are times we may not have food (historically) so fat stores are good. But that's different than blubber oozing over. That's not attractive.
the 2nd female looks in the normal zone to me.
Extra fat would cause some problems, but it's probabbly what is being taken in... carbs, sugars causing the underlying problems. Can she run if she has to, get out of a car? climb a wall? certainly... her heart has to work harder as does pancreas. none of what I said is science.
You’re definitely right. Certain levels of fat are completely normal and healthy. Women usually have a higher fat percentage than men because our bodies need to be able to endure pregnancy and childbirth. It’s completely okay to have some chub. But Lizzo is definitely overweight and that definitely isn’t healthy. It’s a proven fact that being over weight can lead to additional health issues, it can worsen pre-existing ones, and it can make certain issues more difficult to treat. I love Lizzo. She is beautiful, and I love that she makes such positive music, but her weight is a health issue. I don’t think that Lizzo thinks being overweight is good. I just think that she’s profiting off of women who aren’t slim. Obesity is on the rise in the US which means that the demographic for fat women who want to feel beautiful and empowered is growing. Lizzo just profits off of other fat women’s insecurities by telling them that they’re beautiful too.
Being overweight might not be an issue medically for some people but for others it might tip the scales to the other side to activate heart disease, stroke, diabetes. It is like you hear that the few people who smoked until they were a 100 and never were sick. It really depends if you want to be the one who isn't so lucky and gets cancer. I think when we are older adults being super thin isn't that attractive and a few pounds might be a good buffer when one gets sick but by buffer I'm talking 5 or 10 pounds extra not 50. Post Note: I really think people need to get honest and not try to sugar coat being overweight. Some people are going to be naturally heavier or have thyroid or other medical conditions but that doesn't explain wide spread obesity.
Women would be around 18-24% or so, all the better to shaper their curves. Men would run about 4-5% under that, since they are more angular.
That said, a certain amount of fatty (adipose) tissue is needed for emergency energy storage, insulation, myelin sheaths around your nerves, etc.
The problem we run into is that as we age, our body needs fewer and fewer calories each day. So, even if we "maintain" our diets and don't add any more food, we will still gain fat mass at the expense of muscle mass. So while we can't work at as high a percentage as our "one-time rep max weight" as we age, we can still use weight training to maintain most of our muscles mass while we try to eat more wisely with more protein and veggies and less empty carbs and (sniff- sob) greasy snacks!
No, you're not confused and yout friend should be challenged to produce the studies which show that obesity is no longer unhealthy. Obesity shortens lives and kills people. It is not healthy.
Confusion exists around metabolically healthy obesity. This is where someone has a BMI that would make them obese and yet they don't have metabolic syndrome. However, this is likely to not remain a stable state and, even if it should, it grants no immunity from health issues such as type 2 diabetes. The idea of healthy obesity, based on metabolically healthy obesity, has been debunked already.
Your friend is essentially right and clearly wise beyond her years. Virtually every argument here is an ad nauseam invocation of "science". Science is a social construct of humans, and as such is far from infallible. The medical establishment has a great deal to gain from a crisis. All you need to do is follow the money, weight loss is a multi-billion dollar industry that makes certain vested interests very wealthy. Those same interests lobby congress for funding for studies to support their view or even fund such studies directly. "Science" has failed us more times than we can count, and this is no different. It is time to reject the oppressive scientific establishment for a more well rounded understanding of health and weight.
"Lizzo (the very curvy" umm... Lizzo isn't "very curvy"-- Lizzo is "disgustingly fat and going to die early because of diabetes, and get her joints replaced before sixty." The bullshit message around Lizzo, the LIE surrounding Lizzo and females that look like her, which is that they're beautiful and attractive, does nothing but make people fucking lazy. Lizzo is not attractive. Lizzo is not curvy. Lizzo is fat. And fat is not healthy. The human body does indeed need some amount of body day... a very, VERY small amount. We only NEED like ten percent or less of our body to be fat. As in, basically what many athletes look like. Any more than that is unnecessary, and anything beyond about 15% is unhealthy. Your friend is a moron.
You’re right apart from I’m not sure an athlete is a good example for women as many can become infertile because of the lack of adequate fat that has a relation to the level of female hormones required for pregnancy.
Notice how she's using the word 'thicc' and not fat, it's cause thicc sounds better but fat is what she really is. And no its not hot at all when they twerk, u just see a lot of flesh that is there cause of all the burgers she ate, and she's shaming skinny people? Really? Bruh wtf, she's no good, she's just trying to cover her insecurities, being fat will always be unhealthy. You're supposed to be able to run, but you're not likely to be able to do anything when ur fat and will probably die young
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Anonymous
(25-29)
+1 y
You know you can have a lot of body fat and still be fine, right? This may be a little rare to happen, but you could carry a lot of your excess fat in places other than being visceral and therefore be just fine. You’d likely jiggle around quite a lot though due to having a lot of the safe kind of fat (subcutaneous/the kind you can feel and squish) and personally that’s really attractive to me. A girl can be just fine without problems and still jiggle around a bunch, basically. As long as there isn’t too much visceral fat, it’s good for her. But even if she has a lot, I think she’d look good to me though
"She says that most medical practitioners would now agree that previous assumptions about extra fat being unhealthy were based on hate and stereotyping. "
No, that's just plain nonsense. If anything, current research shows that our BMI recommendations are already far too lenient and should become stricter. The risks of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases begin as early as 21 BMI, which is commonly accepted to be well within the "healthy" range.
No, your "beliefs" aren't wrong - it's a fact that being overweight is unhealthy.
The problem with your friend and people like her is that they think that their personal opinions and feelings matter more than facts. She sees being against fat people as "hate", so she thinks that those facts were based on hate. That's fucking stupid.
Missy Elliot was in the video and even SHE lost mad weight over time. She was bigger than Lizzo at some point.
I think that answers the question, but to be clear, Lizzo's weight can be dangerous, but that's her problem and for her to deal with.
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Anonymous
(30-35)
+1 y
A small percentage is, yes. Especially for pregnancy. But more than that? No it is not, it has many adverse health effects. I know this based on a degree and by with patients. It’s not just an opinion.
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2 Reply
Opinion Owner
+1 y
A very good “guide” to hold your friend to count with her claims is a BMI chart. It’s only a guide because without a more in depth individual assessment measuring, fat, muscle & fluid etc it can’t say for sure, but the parameters of a BMI chart are generally a very good guide.
You are actually more right. It also depends on what type of fat. Cause there are two types of fat. And if you have too much of the wrong kind you can become unhealthy and are prone to an array of health problems.
To an extent, YES! Fat is very important for the Human body! The brain needs fat, The body needs fat. Now, when it gets dicey is when Health Issues ensue. So, fat=healthy: Yes, and no.
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