"Fat." How many times do you hear it a day? "I'm so fat," or, "Eating this will make me so fat," or maybe even, "Don't eat that, you'll get fat!" Unlike the actual F word, "fat" receives little to no censorship; it gets thrown around hundreds of times per day.

Dictionary.com defines 'fat' as, "a natural oily or greasy substance occurring in animal bodies" or "(of a person or animal) having a large amount of excess flesh." Doesn't sound so scary, but our society has put enough of a negative connotation around it that hearing the word literally makes me shudder. "Fat" has become more than just a noun; it has become a harmful adjective, a cruel insult that we call others and even ourselves. In Jes Baker's viral TED talk on body image, she makes the claim that a group of 10-year-olds admitted to being more afraid of becoming fat than cancer, nuclear war, or losing their parents. What?!

There's no denying that there is a serious obesity epidemic in America. On the flip side, America also has some of the highest rates of eating disorders in the world. While there are numerous other factors that go into the development of an eating disorder, harmful language and society's acceptance of negative body image certainly doesn't help. Instead of encouraging young people (girls especially) to be strong and healthy, the media feeds on their insecurities and encourages them to be "skinny, toned, and sexy!" Becoming "fat" is seemingly not an option for these young girls; not because they care about their health, but because society is deeming it as unacceptable.

J.K. Rowling once said, "Is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring', or 'cruel'? Not to me." And yet, most girls I know would much rather be called 'shallow' or 'cruel' than *gasp* fat. A simple word has become so harmful, so damaging, all because young people are trained that being overweight will make them a social outcast.

So what can be done? I believe a shift to promoting overall health and wellness is a good place to start. Instead of prompting others to "not eat that donut because it will make them fat" perhaps instead encourage a healthier option, or remind them (and yourself) that 'unhealthy' foods are perfectly fine in moderation. Part of the problem falls on the media as well, but unfortunately this is more difficult to change. If there was less pressure for young people to "Drop 10 Pounds in a Week!" and more spotlight on, say, how to be a better version of ourselves, maybe the population's perception would be different.

'Fat' is not something we want to avoid in order to please society; we should be mindful of our choices to take care of our own bodies. Our personal body condition has nothing to do with who we are as a human.