Saturday, August 10, 2019

Let's Talk About Fat Women

Fat shaming has been a trend on the right wing internet for quite some time already. Yet, if one follows the discussions faithfully, he will get an impression that being overweight and obese is an exclusively female problem. Since most of these bloggers and writers belong to the Anglosphere, they chiefly criticise American and sometimes, British women who apparently all turn into "landwhales" once they reach a certain age or bear a child, while their unfortunate husbands and boyfriends are all shining examples of proper nutrition and fitness.

I've done some research and it appeared that there was a report in 2015 which said that the obesity rates by women in the USA are slightly higher than by men (38 vs 34%) yet, the official numbers from 2017 tell a different tale:

Overweight and Obesity Rates for Adults by Gender

Total USA Male 70.9 Female 59.8

Since it includes both overweight and obese it could very well be that while there are more overweight men, women lead in obesity rates, but it's hardly the problem of females only.

Now let look at WHO report from 2015 on the world trends, as reported by the Guardian:

 Europe’s growing obesity crisis will see almost three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women in the UK being overweight in 15 years, health experts have said. (emphasis mine).

Ireland leads the trend, with new figures to be presented on Wednesday to the European Congress on Obesity, in Prague suggesting that 89% of men and 85% of women in the country will be overweight or obese by 2030.


 The proportion of obese Irish men is expected to increase from 26% to 48%, while the figure for those either overweight or obese rises from 74% to 89%.
In terms of obesity, the estimates show a big jump for women in Ireland from 23% to 57%, and the percentage for overweight and obese together from 57% to 85%.

As you can see, there are more obese Irish men than women at the moment (26 vs 23%) but the prediction is that it will change in the future (48 vs 57%) while men will still be leading in overweight group (89 vs 85%)..

In 2010 in UK the equal percent of both sexes was obese:

In the UK, 36% of men and 33% of women are predicted to be obese in 2030 compared with 26% of both sexes in 2010.

And in 2030 more men are predicted to be obese than women.

Now let's look at the Netherlands:

 In 2010, 54% of Dutch men were overweight, including 10% who were obese. These figures are projected to fall to 49% and 8% respectively. For women, the 2030 figures will be 43% and 9%, compared to 44% and 13% in 2010.

What do we see? More obese women in 2010 (10 vs 13%) but more overweight men than women (54 vs 44%) and the numbers are supposed to fall.

So is  being obese and overweight an exclusively female problem? Hardly, as the figures show. Then why  is it that only women are fat-shamed? And why do men who aren't physically fit themselves expect their partners to be so? I constantly hear about married men who suffer because their wives put on weight and become unattractive. Well, guess what? Overweight husbands aren't attractive, either! Something about the beam in your own eye comes to mind instantly.


The reason I returned to this topic yet again is because I see the trend of blaming women for all of the world's problems as rather unproductive. You don't win many hearts and minds with it and what's more important, it's not even true. In my opinion, it's a tactic used by the enemy to divide us. Women are told that they should have a career and not be dependent on a man because all men are abusive etc while men are told to avoid marriage because their wives will all balloon to an enormous size, deny s*x etc. As a result, my people are literally disappearing.

In the meanwhile, Put that fork down is good advice for both sexes.

4 comments:

  1. This problem (and I am overweight) seems to be that we live in the land of plenty! Prosperity and ease is the problem. We have easy access to more than enough food and little access to enough physical labor to burn it off. It takes a lot of discipline to say no to food, and yes to labor. But I'm working on it. I don't think obesity is a problem among the poor in third world countries.

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  2. Well, I'd say it's a complex problem which has to do with nutrition and the abundance of convenience foods. The portions are probably too big, too.

    On the other hand, "overweight" is a rather broad concept. It does make a big difference whether your BMI is 25 or 29.9, imo. They actually say nowadays that for the elderly, being slightly overweight is healthier than "normal" BMI ranges. (M.b. they should adjust it?)

    The real concern is young people of both sexes who are overweight and/or obese. I mean some of these guys look like they would drop dead if they had to run a 100m! Youngsters should be trim and fit.

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  3. Hey, they are not fat, they are muscular. At least that is what men say here. :rolleyes:

    I actually think part of the problem is the absence of fork and knife. People do not eat proper food at dinner table. They eat in front of tv, eat something you can just shovel to your mouth.

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