Is it OK to be Fat?

Last week ABC News Nightline aired a special report that asked the question, is it okay to be fat? I was struck by the lack of color in the special, but I was particularly concerned about the way the conversation unfolded. I won’t recant the entire show here, but suffice it to say, the dialogue dissolved into the fat girls versus the skinny girls. It was unfortunate because as we know, size really is irrelevant. The real question that we should be asking is how healthy are you and are you doing the things that can contribute to a better chance at a longer, healthier more productive life.

I would also like to see us debate about whether or not an individual owes her community her best efforts at a healthy life. I would argue that your individual health affects your entire community. As such, I owe you my best health and you owe me the same. That means getting regular check-ups at the doctor and dentist, seeking out information on healthy eating and nutrition and putting advice to work and incorporating exercise in your life on a regular basis. These are the things that each individual should strive to accomplish to keep down blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. Often a benefit of doing these things can mean weight loss if your body needs to lose the weight.

I believe if people give up starving themselves to fit into a certain size and stop eating to make themselves feel better and instead think of eating as a means to keep their body functioning at an optimal level, we as an entire community of women would be stronger. In order to accomplish this, we need to learn what healthy really is and we need to figure out how to make it work in our lives.

As the country continues to discuss the issues of obesity, especially as it pertains to children, thanks to First Lady Michelle Obama, I hope the conversations grow to include people of color and an honest debate about what it means to be healthy no matter what size you are.

© Tonya Lewis Lee for Healthy You Now, All Rights Reserved