Fitness Material – Review

23.07.11 / Workouts / Author: cyborg

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

A Review of Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic

Recently, I took a look at a book that caught my eye, mostly because the title really got to me. Anything that starts with “Fat Politics” gets my attention. As Lisa mentioned recently in the Overweight and Invisible post on the Weight Loss blog, there’s a lot of pre-judging that occurs with weight. This book is a good read, because it focuses on positives and negatives and not just the negative.

Eric Oliver’s book opens with the line: This was not a book I intended to write. Since some of the best writings come from those who didn’t intend to take a stand, but found themselves taking one it’s important to take a look at his viewpoint.

Oliver talks about the fact that he trusted the warnings of physicians and public-health officials about the obesity epidemic in the United States. You can hardly miss the news articles; they appear every day in magazines, newspapers and Internet sites. We hear about it on specials that are no longer limited to the Discovery and Health channels. This present knowledge of the obesity epidemic fueled the success of reality shows like “The Biggest Loser.”

So what did Oliver learn that compelled him to write this book?

His research led him to the conclusion that the people with the most to gain over the obsession with weight are the weight loss industry. He writes that ‘based on the statistics, most of the charges saying that obesity caused various diseases or that obesity caused thousands of deaths were simply not supported.’

In the market for fitness, weight loss and health issues, Oliver’s conclusions are not only different; they are downright controversial. Oliver is an associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago. During an interview about his book, Oliver describes the conclusions he found.

For example, the average American is around 8 to 12 pounds heavier today than they were in 1975. The definitions for overweight and obesity are low, so this small gain to the average weight of American adults translates into an overall huge percentage gain. The concept of epidemic is that it is a spreading disease and potentially able to affect large numbers of Americans.

Oliver describes that the diet doctors and weight-loss industry have manipulated American perceptions. He says these weight-loss experts have large financial backing from pharmaceutical companies to lower thresholds of what is considered overweight or obese. There is also extensive government lobbying to get obesity considered as a disease. This would allow consumers to take tax-deductible treatments for weight loss.

The Professor supports his theories by citing the 1998 NIH (National Institutes of Health) report that changed the definitions of overweight and obesity in 1998. Prior to the 1998 report, people with a BMI greater that 27 were overweight. A BMI greater than 32 was obese. The report dropped those numbers to 25 for overweight and 27 to 30 for obese. The report made millions of Americans overweight and obese, overnight.

What they were the day before may have been on target, but now they were not. Oliver lists George Bush and Michael Jordan as two that would qualify as overweight based on those standards, however few would claim that either man is actually ‘overweight.’

Oliver’s book is not all about how the weight loss industry is wrong, but that people should focus on their exercise and their diet and worry less about what it says on the scale. The reasons for that are that studies have shown that people are heavy and fit are usually healthier than a thin person who never exercises. Also, Oliver notes that there is not really a safe or effective mechanism that causes everyone to lose weight. If such a thing existed, the majority of Americans would already be using it. What happens without such a mechanism is that people are terrified of the numbers and engage in dangerous behavior like starvation diets or magic pills. It’s Oliver’s conclusion that being overweight or obese doesn’t mean bad. He cites his grandmother who was naturally heavy, but lived a vigorous and active life until she passed away at the age of 98. The American conscience’s issues with ‘fatness’ have less to do with fitness than it does with image. As a culture, we see someone who is fat as a being lazy or poor. It’s an issue with negative thinking and it shapes how we perceive the successful from the unsuccessful. Look at our movie stars and other popular culture icons.

Finally, Oliver supports his own theories with his personal health. He is 6 feet tall and weighs about 190 pounds. By the NIH standards, he is overweight. Yet, he has completed several triathlons and is healthy and fit. Oliver’s views on fat politics in the United States are very controversial, yet there is a distinctive grain of truth in his words. Fitness should focus on regular exercise and how a person feels, not on what their scale says.

From my personal standpoint, I am technically overweight. Yet I am in better physical condition than my much slighter and thinner sister-in-law. So skip staring at the scale and focus on your exercise program. If you feel great on the inside, it will show through. Check out Oliver’s book and see the other side of the story and take a step back from the societal fear.