The year has been veritably glutted with stories about obesity, ranging all the way from crappy fat-shaming to reasonable health recommendations. Amid all this, have we learned anything at all?
This year saw Maura Kelly becoming the next MeMe Roth with her ridiculous post about “fatties” on TV, and Michelle Obama’s mostly-smart “Let’s Move” initiative. And this month, obesity coverage has kicked into high gear, with predictably mixed results. Here are a few lessons we’ve culled from all the bullshit.
Weight is about way more than calories.
You’d think this would be obvious, but plenty of people still yell “calories in, calories out” as though being thin was a simple proposition for everybody. But over and over, science is showing us that it’s not. Recently, studies showed that “rogue” copies of certain genes can increase people’s obesity risk up to 70%, and that obese people might actually have a keener sense of smell than thin folks. The psychology of eating is complex, too — recent research has found that repeatedly imagining yourself eating a certain food actually dulls your craving for it. The body and mind deal with food and weight in such complex ways that the popular claim that “most fat people are lazy and have no self-control” just doesn’t hold water.
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