I cannot get behind fat acceptance, or better stated in medical lingo as “normalizing obesity.” As a physician and as someone who has been obese or morbidly obese my adult life, I know first hand what it’s like to hate my body and feel ashamed of it. I still do this very moment as I type this, that’s something I have to work on.
Funny thing is, I am much more understanding of my obese patients than myself, and I think my own struggles make me more empathetic. There is a place in which you can encourage people to lose weight without being cruel and judgmental.
I would never tell myself or any patient to accept that their body is destined to be obese and to just make the best of it. Just as I would never tell a drug or alcohol abuser to give up on sobriety. Obesity in this country, at its core, is caused by addiction to foods — to processed sugary foods and to lifestyles that are less and less active and more sedentary. There’s a reason we are now using naltrexone to treat obesity just as we treat our heroin addicts; it curbs the cravings. We are still learning more about why some people are more susceptible to obesity, and I hope in years to come research will continue to shine more light on the subject. In the meantime, the vast majority of us obese people need to find our version of the winning formula that works: fewer calories in, more calories out.
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