In this article I wish to discuss the prevalent topic of debate which has occurred in the media in the last year or so and that is the debate of having grossly obese individuals on the cover of top selling magazine covers and starring roles in highly viewed music videos. There are some who sit on the fence of positive body image and say that it doesn’t matter what shape or size you are, you should be proud of your body and put yourself out there. Against those that say celebrating a overly large individual is extremely dangerous and sends the complete wrong message to people creating confusion.
Now I wish to start by explaining what the meaning of obese is and how is obesity calculated. So currently medical practitioners will use a BMI scale to determine where an individual will fit. Your BMI is your Body Mass Index and can be calculated by this formula BMI=KG/m2 . Your figure will see you fall into one of the following categories: 18.5 and below underweight, 18.5-24.9 normal, 25-29.9 overweight, 30-39.9 obese and anything above morbidly obese 40 or more. This scale is quite often flawed in the athletic community as someone with a decent amount of lean muscle mass could be determined overweight or even obese but these are exceptions to the rule. For the general population this actually makes quite a good, reliable easy to use examination to access ones health.
In the instances of these cover photos it is clear that these individuals were off the charts in terms of there BMI well above what is classed as morbid obesity. Not even close to what we would call normal, so this is a blatant attempt by these publishers and music production workers to ‘glorify or celebrate obesity’.
This in my opinion is a massive problem and one that these magazines should be ashamed of. Some of the poor overly sized individuals on these covers have come out and spoken and justified their presence and said that they are happy with their weight and not worried about their state of health.
This is extremely worrying and I believe the blame lies with the publishers and production teams for allowing this to come to roost.
I do not wish to rant too much about such hedonistic propaganda, but rather highlight some of the dangers that being far too overweight or even morbidly obese has on our health as that is what here at JCRITCHLOW Performance we are all about, being fit and healthy.
First off and probably the most important of all is the relationship of obesity and breathing difficulties, for there is a clear correlation between the two. I have written in more detail about how poor breathing in itself can lead to a whole host of issues, so be sure to check that out. However for those who are obese it is extremely common to have a very shallow, short breath with extreme difficulty to breathe diaphragmatically through the nose and commonly experience feeling of shortness of air. This will lead to issues like sleep apnea, high blood pressure, metabolic dysfunction, decreased heart rate variability and hormonal issues. With that comes a highly stressed body, one that lives in fight or flight mode
and will seek quick fixes of energy through namely sugar, caffeine and other stimulants to combat the feeling of fatigue creating this vicious cycle that is extremely damaging for our health.
It is also worth mentioning that individuals with high amounts of excess body fat or adipose tissue and especially visceral fat which is fat stored around the belly and vital organs, will have much higher levels of free fatty acids in the bloodstream and thus will be more susceptible to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. This is where your bodies cells no longer respond to the hormone insulin and leads to even more insulin being produced and higher blood sugar levels.
This leads me into talking briefly about another of my five key pillars to health and that is movement. Movement is life, an obese person will be limited in their capacity to move and will likely have high levels of inflammation as a result and perhaps be more susceptible to conditions such as arthritis and other autoimmune issues. A simple lack of movement may have even been the cause of such weight gain in the first place and lead to the infinite issues that comes with being morbidly obese. Worst of all a lack of movement has strongly been linked to lower life expectancy!
It is important to mention also that obesity is not the only issue that is related to food and there is often a mental or emotional attachment that brings about the problem. This could be for example be as a result of a childhood soothing tactics by parents or guardians, like when a parent gives a child a lollipop to comfort the child’s sore grazed knee after falling over. This is an attachment theory and one that could subconsciously be ingrained in an individuals mind leading to obesity. So as a result we should be taking note and realise that we consume foods for different reasons, physiologically, psychologically and socially. In the case of an obese individual, highly likely the food choices made are based on emotion and aren’t based on what food should be looked at and that is nutrition for the body or fuel for the machine.
It is my wish that these companies who feature obese people on front covers come to their senses and not encourage a person to be that way but to maybe show some motivational transformation instead. Everyone knows being that overweight is unhealthy but maybe they just don’t quite know how damaging it is otherwise I’d like to think they wouldn’t have promoted this.
At JCritchlow Performance I have the know how to help people looking to lose fat from the frame, build strength and become overall a fitter more healthy individual. If you’d like to get in touch and get started please visit my website and send me a message.