Where will Fat Acceptance Lead Us

Airplane Belt Extender given out on airplanes regularly

Conservatives hate the liberals and their cancel culture, identity politics, wimpy wellness bitching and wokeness. Liberals can’t stand the other side’s anti-intellectualism, simplistic patriotism, xenophobia, and religiosity. But our polarization stops cold when it comes to our bodies. We have all sized up. Fat acceptance is our bond. It is powerful, personal and public.

Our waistlines are the big equalizer. The average female measures 39” and males 41” and yet we’re only 41% obese using the CDC’s “grading on a curve” BMI. But before 1985 when we weren’t all fat, the CDC used the more accurate ideal body weight (IBW) formula. Reverse engineer the numbers back to IBW or use the correct World Health Organization (WHO) Waistline Measurement and our obesity number climbs to 60%.

I recently filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) asking the CDC for records on these measurements. Now you may wonder, who am I to confront the mighty CDC? I’m not an MD, an RD, nor do I have a PhD. “No D’s.” But that also means I haven’t been drinking the Kool-Aid or have a vested interest in perpetuating the big fat lie.

Everyone has a weight story. Here’s mine.

I was born during World War II and lived through food rationing. We had victory gardens to supplement our rations. Europeans had even less food. We didn’t waste a crumb. Thinness wasn’t desirable. People would pinch me. Yes, even strangers, and say, “put some meat on your bones,’ ‘you're a scarecrow, eat something.’ I was a skinny girl in high school when Marilyn Monroe was our curvy idol. Of course, there were no Facebook groups for skinny people who wanted to scream that it’s not “PC” to pick on our weight.

Then in the 60’s a model named Twiggy entered the scene. Suddenly, people began asking me how I kept my figure. My first thought was, “Are you talking to me!” Overnight, I became attractive and desirable. I realized then that this body image conversation was nuts — the nexus of neurosis.

I’ve seen the dieting shenanigans unfold over the past half-century while I worked in related fields. I made Pilates a household name and co-founded a low quantity eating program. I hold nine patents for products that help bodies.

Recently a thin woman wedged between two obese passengers on a 4-hour flight tweeted that a person should purchase two seats if they require a seatbelt extender. A fat-shaming outcry ensued after the tweet and video went viral. But the implication goes beyond a skinny woman whining about being squished. A full fight with obese passengers, their luggage and food may exceed the plane’s weight limit. In 2003, a plane crashed in North Carolina due to excess passenger weight. The FAA are discussing weighing passengers. Is that because their algorithm is based on the fraudulent CDC stats? I want the facts, which is why I filed another FOIA with the USDOT/FAA.

Body positivity defenders say airlines should make all the seats bigger. Maybe this is a solution – fewer passengers mean less weight onboard. But is forcing everyone to pay for business class good for our economy, or the average American worker’s pocketbook? What about the cost of reinforcing elevators? What about more ramps for the mobility chairs? Where does it end and who foots the bill? The American taxpayers already overpay for healthcare.

Obesity is an embarrassing subject that touches everyone, but no one wants to touch it. But what if the CDC stats are fudged? Then Fat Acceptance becomes an accessory to the crime. And just maybe a little fat phobia could be good in the long run.