Although you might think that someone who is fat-shamed loses weight drastically as they try all possible means to look slimmer, body shaming statistics show that in reality, the opposite happens.
Fat-shaming is a toxic process of making an obese or overweight person feel conscious about their body weight, humiliating them, eventually breaking their self-confidence. We need to stop body-shaming. Instead of doing good, it targets people and makes them feel insecure about themselves.
Why Fat Shaming Causes Weight Gain Instead of Weight Loss?
Slimmer people with a good metabolism usually indulge in fat-shaming. But fat-shamed people may have underlying medical conditions, genetic issues, or psychological problems that make them obese. So for such people, rigorous physical exercise, strict diet, or even medicines might not work.
To know what body shaming is and understand its effect on an individual, we need to observe such people. We need to be careful and cautious of the things we say and the actions we perform. This is because body shaming can lead to stress, insecurity, and an inferiority complex. All these can compel a person to eat more. Excessive calorie intake, eating more processed and junk food, and eating at the wrong hours can lead to uncontrolled weight gain instead of weight loss.
Body shaming is not just mocking a person for their body weight. It shatters a person’s self-confidence and makes them vulnerable, which can lead to long-term psychological problems.
Fat-Shaming Definition. What is Fat-Shaming?
In simple words, fat-shaming is the phenomenon of making an overweight, obese, or bulky person feel conscious of their body weight and objectifying them. In many cases, fat-shaming comes with comparing these people with animals or things that are fat. This makes them feel ashamed of themselves and leads them to serious depression, sometimes with suicidal thoughts.
When health experts teach people to accept everyone as they are without objectifying anyone, the growing cases of fat-shaming on social media platforms, workplaces, and even among friends and families is becoming a social stigma.
Body shaming leads to crumbling relationships, broken marriages, and eventually single parenthood. Often, men want their female partners to look or dress up in a certain way. Sometimes, excess body weight does not allow people to wear the clothes they want, which creates an emotional problem. At times, it also affects relationships.
Even in workplaces, fat-shaming can be worrisome. When an employee is not judged based on his/her merit or skill but judged for their body, it creates disharmony in the entire working environment and leads to poor quality of work.
Bullying someone is an offence, and when it is done due to someone’s physical appearance, it is an unpardonable offence. But in our society, discussing someone’s body shape is a favourite topic of discussion over a cup of tea.
Do You Think Fat-Shaming is Good?
Those who think that fat-shaming is good and will help a person rethink their health and body weight are completely lost. Fat-shaming can never be good as it targets someone, points them out in a group, and makes them conscious of their body, something which they need to always carry with them.
Instead of body shaming, a person with excess body weight should be told about the importance of staying healthy and losing weight. They should be motivated to overcome their shortcomings and asked to try different methods to lose weight in a healthy manner under a doctor’s advice.
Instead of motivating people, fat-shaming can demotivate them and even make them stop doing the things they normally do to keep themselves healthy, like healthy eating, taking medications on time, regular workouts, and leading an otherwise happy and balanced life.
Does Fat-Shaming Cause Weight Loss?
Fat-shaming can only harass people and force them to the path of self-destruction. In many cases, due to fat-shaming, people develop bad habits like overeating, drug or alcohol abuse, smoking, or even face long-term depression. Even if the intentions are right, fat-shaming is never a positive approach to someone’s health crisis.
Excessive body weight or obesity can also result from hormonal changes, post-pregnancy weight gain, and medications like steroids or other hormone therapies. Fat-shaming cannot reverse these processes. Hence, it can never lead to weight loss. On the contrary, fat-shaming can make someone more unhealthy due to stress and anxiety. The embarrassment and trauma of being targeted continuously due to physical features can be painful. Thus, it does more harm than good.
Treatment and Therapy for Fat-Shaming
Fat-shaming is toxic and should never be encouraged. People who fat shame others for no reason get sadistic pleasure. These people need counselling. They should be informed about the importance of a positive approach in tackling deep-rooted issues, like handling a person who is already dealing with issues like excess weight and other health problems.
At https://www.unitedwecare.com/in, we can connect you with the best counsellors who can guide you to tackle situations like body shaming. If you think you are too harsh with your friends or colleagues who are chubby, you may be counselled to deal with these people in the right way.
Doctors should also be careful while dealing with chubby/obese people and should not hold their body weight responsible for every symptom they experience. Instead, they should look into their symptoms carefully and motivate them to lead a healthy and stress-free life.
Body shaming is shameful, and no one should support it. If we find someone body shaming others, we must be vocal about it and take the necessary steps to prevent it.
