should overweight girls be encouraged to feel comfortable with their weight or be enc

Title's too long apparently! :frown:

Sorry about that! Here's the full length title:
should overweight girls be encouraged to feel comfortable with their weight or be encouraged to slim up?

Before anyone says I'm discriminating against overweight girls, I'm overweight myself.
Obviously since being overweight is bad for your health, it's a sensible thing to encourage weight loss but with the current wave of acceptance towards overweight/fat bodies, is it still a good thing to do or not?
Personally, I wouldn't be able to be to stay overweight for health/confidence issues but I know/have seen quite a lot of fat/overweight girls who seem comfortable in their own skin and don't mind wearing skirts, dresses etcThere's also the fact that a "bigger" person could be fit and not shed some extra weight, because that's how they are?
So what's more important, encouraging weight loss for health or encouraging confidence no matter your body? :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

Normal.Person

9

Um, tis good to be healthy. However, whilst on that journey/not on that journey, I don't think peeps should judge the clothing any woman wears (unless it's just über - and that's for any guy/girl, not just overweight females).

Reply 2

Mr Smurf

20

Be encouraged to slim up. Even though I don't find girls of my own race attractive (Oriental girls), I do admire that they are far less likely to play into the "big girls are beautiful" or "I am fat because of my metabolism" crap.

Reply 3

yo radical one

6

I simply don't think that mocking fat people is the most effective way to motivate them into making more healthy choices.

A lot of this, 'it's for your own good' stuff, seems like a justification for bullying.

Reply 4

somemightsay888

20

Completely disagree with fat acceptance, being a size 20 and being "comfortable in your skin" does NOT offset the fact you're killing yourself. However, shaming people for any reason is never nice. Health should be prioritised over looks, you won't be feeling too comfortable in your skin when you need a crane to lift you out of bed.

This video sums everything up perfectly, shame more people don't have this attitude

Spoiler

Reply 5

localblackguy

11

Well imo there's no point in all this campaigning to be healthy, teaching kids what to eat properly etc. if we're gonna have fat acceptance campaigns at the same time. I can't see how it isn't completely contradictory.

And for the inevitable "it's not always their fault!" reply - not only is the genetics argument to obesity rarely more than an excuse considering the low amount of people it actually applies to (around 1%), but even then people that are genetically predisposed aren't 100% going to end up that way.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/91/1/184.full for people that'll ask for a source.

Reply 6

shawn_o1

21

how do they know whether they're healthy or not

Reply 7

rxns_00

15

Original post by jedanselemyia

Title's too long apparently! :frown:

Sorry about that! Here's the full length title:
should overweight girls be encouraged to feel comfortable with their weight or be encouraged to slim up?

Before anyone says I'm discriminating against overweight girls, I'm overweight myself.
Obviously since being overweight is bad for your health, it's a sensible thing to encourage weight loss but with the current wave of acceptance towards overweight/fat bodies, is it still a good thing to do or not?
Personally, I wouldn't be able to be to stay overweight for health/confidence issues but I know/have seen quite a lot of fat/overweight girls who seem comfortable in their own skin and don't mind wearing skirts, dresses etcThere's also the fact that a "bigger" person could be fit and not shed some extra weight, because that's how they are?
So what's more important, encouraging weight loss for health or encouraging confidence no matter your body? :smile:

I wouldn't encourage being "slim", I'd rather encourage being healthy. If the girls weight is affecting her health, she should be encouraged to go down to a weight that her body tolerates, at which she can lead a healthy life- doesn't mean she has to become slim :smile:

Reply 8

username1504459

OP

17

Original post by RonnieRJ

I wouldn't encourage being "slim", I'd rather encourage being healthy. If the girls weight is affecting her health, she should be encouraged to go down to a weight that her body tolerates, at which she can lead a healthy life- doesn't mean she has to become slim :smile:

I didn't mean slim up as in becoming slim, but shedding pounds :smile:

But you're right, I should have used another term

Reply 9

username1967813

18

You should only slim up if it threatens your health. If you're overweight, it's likely this is the case, but don't jump to any conclusions - check with a doctor first.

But you need to be careful. If you become obsessed with losing weight, that's just as unhealthy as being overweight. The most important thing is to be physically fit, making sure you're getting enough exercise, getting all the vitamins and minerals you need, eating a balanced diet, and being mentally healthy too, as this can have a detrimental effect on physical health.

Reply 10

username1504459

OP

17

Original post by localblackguy

Well imo there's no point in all this campaigning to be healthy, teaching kids what to eat properly etc. if we're gonna have fat acceptance campaigns at the same time. I can't see how it isn't completely contradictory.

And for the inevitable "it's not always their fault!" reply - not only is the genetics argument to obesity rarely more than an excuse considering the low amount of people it actually applies to (around 1%), but even then people that are genetically predisposed aren't 100% going to end up that way.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/91/1/184.full for people that'll ask for a source.

I know, right? I don't how both stances can go together, hence the confusion.

Reply 11

Chicken.M.

20

people shouldn't be taught that being obese is good lol. They'l regret it when they're on their death bed.

Reply 12

Rakas21

21

They should not be pandered to. They are fat and that is not a good thing.

Unfortunately a combination of desperate men and feminism means the problem will persist.

Reply 13

username1504459

OP

17

Original post by shawn_o1

how do they know whether they're healthy or not

I guess it depends on how you feel and if you have difficulty doing certain physical activities.

Reply 14

the bear

20

obesity will lead to devastating health problems if untreated. 20% of cancers are now caused by obesity.
would you encourage someone with herpes to be comfortable with their infection or would you expect them to seek treatment ?

Reply 15

Sykro

3

If you have health problems or are likely to develop them from being overweight then yes you should be slimming down. The same way we tell people, if you don't revise you will fail. This doesn't need to be a major issue.

If you are fat or chubby but not unhealthy or likely to develop health problems then carry on doing what you are doing.

Skinny or fat people should at least try to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Reply 16

lunamorrissey

2

I think people should be encouraged to feel comfortable with themselves. Girls/boys of any size should be able to wear what ever they want! I think if you're related to someone or extremely close to them, motivation to exercise or introducing healthier foods is all okay, but I personally hate seeing someone comment on what someone else looks like/ is eating/ isn't eating, ect. I think majority of the time those prods of "encouragement" aren't at all coming from a good place, so there is definitely a fine line.
Overall I think people should just be encouraged to love themselves! Most overweight people are too aware of that anyway, so constant reminders and prompts to do something about it really doesn't help, in fact it can lead to weight gain/lower self esteem. As has been said many times before, people who are of a average weight can be just as unhealthy it is just not as obvious. So personally I think people should try to work on themselves before trying to "fix" everyone else, and just try to spread self love!! :h:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 17

aoxa

11

Being overweight is not a good thing. Everyone should be educated right from primary school - more often than not if you have an overweight child, they will grow to be an overweight adult too.

That being said, being overweight is not restricted to girls OP.

Reply 18

Joshb873

8

My opinion is that people who are overweight SHOULD NOT be criticized for being overweight, and should learn to love THEMSELVES.

But people who are overweight need to realize being overweight is a health risk and that they should lose weight. You should aspire to be fat or to think maintaining your fatness is a good thing. Tess Holiday is a horrible example of someone who is blatantly trying to encourage girls to be overweight. Also, Adele once said she never wants to be skinny, but it's not a fact of being skinny, it's a fact of being healthy and you CANNOT deny that being overweight is unhealthy because be definition fat people are running health risks.

The same applies for underweight people also.
And by fat I mean clinically obese for their height and age. Not chubby people