Tag Archive for: fat shaming

Nobody Got It Right

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The topic of the last Memo came from an article co-written by writers from The Examination and the Washington Post. The “exposé” was that credentialed nutritionists and registered dieticians (RDs) were accepting sponsorships and payments from industries they covered, especially the cereal industry. The “angle” was that the influencers were using the anti-diet movement to promote the consumption of cereals to adults and children—not just granola and oatmeal, but every sugar-laden cereal.

I don’t watch TikTok videos, and I don’t have a TikTok account. But to be fair, I used the hashtag #DerailTheShame to check out some of the videos that were mentioned in the article. It was a couple of weeks after the article was posted, so there were responses from some RDs that typically use TikTok. To say they were upset was an understatement. But in the responses, no one addressed the real issues in the TikToks and the article, so I will.

Both Sides Made Mistakes

The writers who collaborated on the article were all investigative journalists with a lot of experience, but none had a nutrition background. How do you know what’s good or bad from a nutrition perspective? This happens a lot in non-scientific journalism. I’m not saying such articles aren’t worth reading, just keep in mind that an important viewpoint is missing.

Some of the RDs certainly made it seem like they were promoting the sugar-laden cereals only. That’s the problem with using short videos; you don’t get to address the issue completely, and it would appear you have to sell yourself more than anything else.

On the other hand, the RDs were using elements of “fat shaming is bad” together with eating all foods. Fat shaming is bad and should never happen; you don’t know what kind of stressors people are dealing with or the medical, physical, psychological, and budget issues that keep them from losing weight right now. But eating as much processed food as you want isn’t a good solution.

At least one of the authors of the article wrote about Big Food and their sponsorships of RDs. The results were new laws legislating that compensation must be revealed when it comes to such influencers. On the other hand, I didn’t find any criticism by the RDs of Big Food companies who oppose new and plainly written food labels to reveal exactly what’s in processed foods.

Partial Solutions

I think the article writers should have spent more time on the Big Food angle rather than the influencers, credentialed or not. Many health insurance companies will not pay for nutritional counseling for obesity. One of the results is that nutrition professionals turn to other venues to be able to earn a living, and sponsorships can help them do that.

As for the credentialed influencers? With all the mind-numbing music, graphics, and dancing around in kitchens, it seems appropriate to post the serving size and calories from the cereal (or whatever food is being promoted) and to emphasize sticking to reasonable portions per day. That solves the issue in my mind. I’m not opposed to earning a living.

The Bottom Line

While cereals and any processed food have their place in a healthy diet, they should be eaten in the proper serving size and servings per day. I am opposed to the anti-diet sentiment. The only way to lose weight and maintain it is to eat less, eat better, and move more. (Ozempic isn’t magic; people lose weight because the drug causes them to eat less.) We all have to figure out for ourselves how to do that, and it won’t be the same for everyone, but it’s the only way to solve the obesity epidemic we face.

However, a physician from across the pond says that eating less and moving more just won’t work. That’s our topic for next week.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: 04-03-24. Washington Post. As Obesity Rises, Big Food and Dietitians Push ‘Anti-Diet’ Advice.

What Should You Believe?

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What happens when you mix:

  • Social media
  • Certified expert influencers such as dieticians
  • The food industry paying or sponsoring food influencers
  • The message that dieting is wrong

You get up to 40% of the social media influencers saying, “Why diet? Love yourself and eat whatever you want!”—especially cereals or other highly sweetened grain products. You get partial truths that bastardize the original concepts of loving yourself and end up with people confused and, in some cases, fatter than they have ever been.

Welcome to a new reality. I think we expect that people who talk about health will have their own point of view; I certainly do. Some people believe that being a vegan is the only way to eat while others believe that a ketogenic diet is the absolute best. Both can selectively use research to support their opinion—and do. That seems normal because everyone can have a point of view.

But what if an organic farming association were paying the vegan supporter to promote a vegan diet? How about beef producers paying the ketogenic diet promoter to favor not only meat but especially beef? That connection must be reported in any scientific study about specific diets, but if you’re an influencer, that’s not mandated.

What about nutritionists and registered dieticians that are supported in part by the food industry? Could they take that too far? We’ll see on Saturday.

And just for the record, no company pays me—only you do when you join drchet.com, buy my health-info products, attend my seminars and webinars, or book me to speak to your group. I work for you.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: 04-03-24. Washington Post. As Obesity Rises, Big Food and Dietitians Push ‘Anti-Diet’ Advice.

The Price of Obesity

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Continuing with comments made by Bill Maher, he suggests that the prevailing thought is that we can be healthy at any weight. Companies have embraced that thought with workout gear and other products featuring oversized models. Maher then goes on to talk about the ill health associated with being obese. Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer are associated with excess body fat. He says being overweight can compromise the immune system and cites statistics on the impact of COVID-19 on people who are obese. I checked them out, and he’s correct as it relates to hospitalizations, ICU placement, and mortality.

Fat and Fit Updated

I have repeatedly made the case that a person could be fat and fit if they exercise at a high level. That’s what the data from the Cooper Clinic demonstrated, and so did my doctoral research. I then add that it doesn’t matter—because very few people could or would do the work necessary. And that was correct, too.

But at 71, I think I was too optimistic in my recommendation even though that’s what the data suggested. The reason is that it’s difficult to maintain a high fitness level the older that you get. What’s possible at 30 years old is not at 50, 60, or 70 years old. The aging body changes.

The Price of Obesity

The cost of obesity is high. You may not have high blood pressure at 250 pounds while you’re younger and fitter, but you’re taxing your heart and cardiovascular system to sustain it. You may delay pre-diabetes and have perfect blood work—for now. And there’s a cost to your joints that may not be realized for decades, but when it hits you, you’ll find your world has shrunk because there are things you simply can’t do any longer.

I’ve been a runner for decades, but those days are over. I wonder if I had decided a decade or so earlier to lose weight and sustain 175 pounds instead of 225 whether my knee would have sustained less damage. Carrying 50 extra pounds generates forces up to ten times greater; that certainly has an impact on hips, knees, ankles, and feet.

Life Is a Struggle

Maher talks about how difficult it is to lose weight. There’s no question that it’s a struggle, but that’s no different than any worthwhile goal. It’s hard to get the weight off and difficult to keep it off. Even as the expert, I know that one well. Life is a struggle.

There is a commercial that we see repeatedly with an overweight woman in her 20s who is walking out her front door to go jogging. I think it’s powerful because she asks herself “What if a sprain my ankle?” and closes with her finishing her run. She’s at the perfect age to add the other components of eating better, eating less, and getting to a weight that is less taxing to her body. That’s aging with a vengeance in action.

The Bottom Line

I’m completely in favor of fat acceptance when it means loving and accepting those around you no matter their size. But if you see people you love trying to exercise and eat healthier, you can quietly let them know you’re rooting for them and will help in any way you can. Let’s not kid ourselves: it’s not the healthiest way to live, and sooner or later, we’ll pay the price.

Maher is a keen observer of the human condition and can be caustic in his commentary. But I think he’s got the tone and tenor just about right in his close:

“And that’s the saddest part. We can do this—I think. But by lying about it and making excuses, psychologically it’s telling ourselves that letting ourselves go is the best we can do. And I gotta believe that as Americans, we can still do better than that.”

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfiWjnStE3w

Feast Mode!

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Comedian and political satirist Bill Maher has been one of my favorites since his first show Politically Incorrect aired over 20 years ago. He is also an outspoken critic of our nation’s health: it’s poor and getting worse. On a recent show, he used the term Feast Mode and explained why it’s a problem.

Feast Mode used to be going on vacation and eating whatever you wanted. It also used to be reserved for holidays such as Thanksgiving where you intended to overeat and then went back to a healthier way to eat, if not in the types of food, at least in the quantities. He suggests that Feast Mode now extends all year long for most Americans. I agree and have the numbers to prove it: close to 70% of us are overweight with 41.9% now classified as obese.

He goes on to talk about the politics of obesity, comparing the psychology of fat shaming to celebrating our fatness. No one should be shamed for being overweight, but that doesn’t mean that it’s healthy to be fat. He suggests that science gets re-written to support what you want it to be instead of reality. I would correct one thing: social science might get re-written, but hard science is based on hard numbers—and however we may feel about it, the number on the scale is the number on the scale. We’re not quibbling about five pounds here; we’re talking about 50 or 100 pounds or more beyond a normal weight.

The question is what does Feast Mode cost? I’ll cover that on Saturday.

Tomorrow night is the monthly Insider Conference call. I’ve got a couple of topics related to dietary supplements to cover and then I’ll answer Insider questions. Become an Insider before 8 p.m. tomorrow and join the discussion.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm