A few weeks ago, I wrote an article dealing with Obesity in America. In that article, I took a look at some of the less obvious reasons America is dealing with an obesity epidemic. My main focus was on diet and how poor diet choices can impact health and weight. While important, I believe that food is only part of the problem. As obesity has become the norm for American society our collective perception of health in the country has been warped to view obesity as less of a problem than it is.

I was inspired to write this article by the following picture that was shown to me a few days ago:

Via ifunny

At first glance the picture seems like a playful joke, but when I thought about the line “overly healthy,” it made me reconsider my stance. What does “overly healthy” even mean? Is there an upper bound of health where someone can become too healthy? As far as I know the answer is no, unless you misinterpret what being healthy is. As any good psychology major would do, I over-analyzed! I considered the idea that this picture, and specifically the phrases “overly healthy” and “Tries to force you to exercise,” could be a reflection of society. It seems like a stretch, but allow me to make my case.

With growing rates of obesity, being overweight is becoming more normalized. When more and more people are seen as obese it slowly loses its impact on our perception of the problem. We begin to try and incorporate the problem into daily life as if it is just how things are now. This makes it more acceptable to be overweight or obese as ultimately less people take notice.

The phrase in question, “when your overly healthy friend tries to force you to exercise,” seems odd to me. "Overly healthy" is now something someone can be classified. Being healthy is no longer normal, that has become the outsider position. These dirty “healthy” people will try to make you exercise, god forbid! It seems to reflect a mindset that really needs to be addressed in a separate article, but for now I will refer to this mindset as Perceived Prosecution. I call it this because I have noticed people of all walks of life seem to be looking for something to be the victim of lately. In this example, it is someone who has chosen to be unhealthy being the victim of horrible health attacks. I can understand the perspective if the issue was something like politics or religion. Having someone press their belief system in your face can be off-putting and frustrating. But the difference between suggesting someone get off the couch and go for a walk is a bit different than trying to get them to change a fundamental belief system. Exercise and healthy eating have proven long term benefits, while religion and political stance are subjective experiences with very little bearing on quality of life, at least biologically. When someone attempts to get someone to exercise it is usually because the exercise would yield beneficial results for the person.

That being said I do not think anyone should be forced to engage in behavior they do not want to. As much as I would like to see everyone try to become healthy that is not possible. People have to make their own choices. However, I feel it is perfectly rational to promote health in the public sphere to combat this warped perception of health we have developed recently. For example, the Healthy at Every Size (HAES) movement. HAES was originally started to promote body positivity, and being comfortable regardless of weight. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to feel good about yourself, and no one should ever be made to feel bad about their body. However, The HAES movement has been adopted to suggest that an obese person is just as physically healthy as someone at the proper weight for their statistics like height and age. This is simply not the case.

Obesity has a massive list of increased risks such as: Increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 Diabetes, and even cancer. That does not even take into account the healthcare cost of treating obesity, which was estimated to be $147 billion (with a B) per year in 2008. It is estimated that in 2012 it would have cost ~$62 billion to pay for that year of college tuition, nationwide. Provided that number is accurate, if we managed to eliminate the obesity problem in the US we could fund every student’s college tuition with over $70 billion left over each year. When you hear the phrase “obesity is killing our country” it is more literal than it is hyperbolic.

To claim that an obese person is perfectly healthy is just simply wrong. Shifting the narrative to try and make being obese acceptable from a health standpoint is absolutely ridiculous in my mind. It is perfectly possible for anyone to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight with proper diet and exercise. I have heard arguments all across the board. “Obesity is genetic.” “I’m just big boned.” “I have a glandular problem.” “My metabolism is slow.” The fact is, barring an eating disorder, obesity is caused by diet. That is the only factor.

Trying to make excuses is only making this problem worse. The only way to change is to do it ourselves. Education and promotion of health is being looked at as “forcing” people to exercise. This perception only serves to make the problem worse by demonizing resources that would help solve this problem. If we do not do something the problem will only get worse. I know the picture above is only a joke, but those jokes reflect the mindset of at least the people who read and share them. Even if it seems innocuous it could be indicative of something much more sinister. In the future, please consider how your own perception of health and the obesity epidemic, and how that perspective impacts the issue.