We hate Being Told We’re FAT!
Published on June 15, 2011. Appeared in Independent Group Newspapers. Written by Gavin Duffy.
One of the most talked about issues this summer has been the Stop the Spread Campaign from Safe Food, the State’s public health promotion and monitoring unit. Safe Food has boldly stated that two out of three of us are unhealthily overweight. In previous summers when they spent tax payers’ money politely and meekly telling us to make sure we cooked the food thoroughly on the barbeque, they were great folks.
But this year they have had the audacity to tell us to measure ourselves around the middle and for women, if you are over 32 inches, or men over 37 inches, this indicates you are probably harming your health through being chronically overweight.
Some journalists have questioned the one measurement fits all approach sanctioned by the WHO, the World Health Organisation. But is this further proof of our denial. Do we simply hate to be told we are FAT?
When the WHO recently pronounced that mobile phone use is injurious to our health not one journalist questioned it. But because we are in denial about our weight some of the journalists have even questioned the independence of the WHO.
So let’s be clear what the WHO says, and in turn, what safe Food is promoting. They are asking us all to measure around our middle. That is not what we commonly call our waistline. So, measure around your middle at your navel or bellybutton. If a woman measures more than 32inches or a man measures more than 37 inches, that means there is an indication that your belly is protruding because so much fat has already built up around your heart, lungs and intestine that on top of that it is now forcing your tummy to protrude.
Now we can continue to deny it all day and all night long but they are the facts according to the WHO. With that much excess fat around your internal organs you are more likely to suffer coronary disease, diabetes or cancer. One third of all cancers are weight related.
But because of our state of denial we start claiming, “I have heavy bones” or “I retain a lot of water”. When the WHO stated brain tumours can result from excessive use of a mobile phone no one was daft enough to say “but I have heavy bones, my skull has an above average thickness so the electro-magnetic field won’t get through my thick head as much”. However these are the very arguments many of us use to resist accepting the fact that we are overweight.
Unbeknownst to ourselves our nation and our children are getting fatter and fatter. Safe Food has stuck to its guns and told us to measure ourselves as instructed. It is merely an indicator and if you are over the 32 or 37 inches but you believe you are not overweight, the best thing to do is to go to your Doctor and get that verified. If your doctor, who will also take into consideration your age, fitness, height etc, tells you you’re not overweight isn’t that fantastic! Keep up the good work but don’t attack a public health agency when it is merely trying to draw our attention to a serious and costly health issue for our population.