The New Ism

This isn’t business related in any way. It is a subject that has bothered me for some time and daily there are stories that add to my ill ease about the path western society is heading. The new ism is fatism (or obeseism if you like). Like racism and sexism, in many cases the victims have no say over what their weight is and yet the media (and many of us) celebrates deriding this group of people.

The issue isn’t necessarily eating habits. In the 1970′s the average British/Australian diet was 100′s of calories higher than the current one. Exercise wasn’t “exercise” back then, it was playing outside till the lights went out; or if a teen hitting the disco and burning off the zillions of calories you consumed during the day. Worrying about weight was not something we as a society was overly concerned about.

Children today are not permitted free play like back in the day. They are ferried too and from music and ballet classes by car. God forbid letting your child walk to school – what are you? some kind of child neglecting parent? don’t you know there are thousands of pedophiles out there just dying to get their hands on your kids>!>! The calories may be fewer, but so is the activity.

These children grow up a size that they have no control over, and by the time they have control the damage is done. I was listening to an interview on ABC Radio about a 27 year old woman who had lap band surgery. She was 107 kilos and had been dieting since she was 7. After 20 YEARS of messing around with her metabolism it was completely stuffed and the only solution was invasive, potentially dangerous, surgery.  This woman has as much chance of naturally changing her size as a blck person does at changing the colour of their skin.

So I wonder whether the next time the TV starts telling you that the obese are causing damage to the health system and the economy whether you will continue to buy into the new ism.