Ugh, The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance

crimznrose

I just visited that website and I'm disgusted that they have an advocacy group out there trying to say people should just accept obesity. They have a claim that people should accept that obesity can occur from environmental circumstances and poor willpower. http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/the_issues/index.html

I'm sorry, but we're all on here because we made a choice to change our health and our bodies instead of playing the victim and getting everyone else to accept our poor lifestyle choices or scapegoats of fast food and genetics. Yes, the women in my family become overweight after children, yes my family has generations that used comfort food as comfort, and yes I do sit at a desk in an office all day for my career, but that doesn't mean I have to make society accept my weight.

It sounds like a bunch of self-conscious overweight people in denial run this site who would be happier pointing their fingers at everyone else while they order the super-sized combo with a diet coke (after working 4 years in fast food during high school I saw my fair share of the people who ordered those). We don't need an organization crying "foul" and trying to get America to accept fat, we need overweight people to quit playing a victim and crying injustice and do something to change their own life.

I had to just get that off my chest because I am overweight and rather than blame burgers and fries, portion sizes in restaurants, or even my gene pool, I'm taking accountability and eating better, jornaling everything I eat, and making an effort to get off my butt more. If I can do and everyone on here does it, why can't these people too?!?

archgrrrl

Why does this organization exist??

The same reason every other advocate organization exists: to help defend the rights and end the persecution of a group of people. From what I understand about the group, they are promoting a healthy self-image at any size and work to ensure people who are fat are not discriminated against.

DanielDefelice

Obesity is mostly correlated to diet, not exercise. Exercise is important, but not being able to play outside is not an excuse for kids to be obese. Poverty is no excuse for eating garbage or overeating. I can buy a bag of rice and a can of beans for very little money, feed a family of four, and have a much more balanced meal than anything you can get off the dollar menu.

Have you ever lived in poverty? With a single parent who has to work two jobs to make ends meet and rarely has time to grocery shop, let alone cook healthy meals? In a dangerous neighborhood where playing outside means taking a huge risk with your safety? Do you understand that adults living in poverty situations are frequently depressed? Can you understand on some level that cooking rice and beans every night for your family is maybe not even a possibility or that it feels like even more deprivation? Has it occured to you that not everyone leads a privileged life where making choices like buying beans and rice every week is an easy one? What if the only happiness in your life is a pint of ice cream?

Just stop already with the condescension and the superiority complex. Yes, healthy choices are important, but have a little compassion for those for whom making healthy choices is not easy.

Yes, I grew up in poverty. Yes, I grew up with parents who struggled with depression and were often pressed for time. You can cook a simple, healthy meal with cheap ingredients just as easily as you can pop a frozen lasagna in the oven and wait for it to cook, and just as easily as you can drive or walk to McDonald's. Not buying into lame excuses is not the same as being condescending. I know plenty of people living in poverty who make healthy food choices for their families, and I know plenty of wealthy people who eat garbage all the time. Poverty does not automatically equal crap food and obesity.

Elizabeth_C34

"The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance" Please tell me this is a joke...

WanaBaMomy

For all you out there that have never been "obese", this organization mostly help those who have been discriminated against because of their weight. If you've never been told that "we want someone more phsyically fit" when trying to get a job, then you have no idea. I do think that it's extreme for them to stop the exhibit. but it also not the children's fault. They don't cook for themselves or drive to the fast food restaurant. Society has gotten so bad, we don't want to send our kids out to play for fear they could be taken or harmed. So parent's but video games and 500 tv channels so the kids have something to do.
Come on america WAKE UP!!! Stop shaming any larger person and help them......

dumb_blondes_rock

for the most part, fat kids are lazy and don't eat right, thus the reason they are fat.....tjhey parents let the television or game consul be their babysitter, and they eat mcdonalds happy meals or whatever is ":easy and cheap" for dinner.....and school lunches???? They are HORRIBLE....packed full of sugar and mystery meats. even their fruit is soaked in syrup.

The kids i watch are thin, and they eat junk during the day, b ut they are outside climbing trees, playing around the house, and even going to the park a lot or having racing competitions out in the yard.

2fit4fat

going to disneyland soon. never been to the fl one but man i think that is stupid. i would have loved to see it! someone needs to motivate kids im willing to be MOST arent obese because of genetics. i see kids in my brothers class (they are 6) that weigh my goal weight or more. its nuts

archgrrrl

I just visited that website and I'm disgusted that they have an advocacy group out there trying to say people should just accept obesity. They have a claim that people should accept that obesity can occur from environmental circumstances and poor willpower. http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/the_issues/index.html

I'm sorry, but we're all on here because we made a choice to change our health and our bodies instead of playing the victim and getting everyone else to accept our poor lifestyle choices or scapegoats of fast food and genetics. Yes, the women in my family become overweight after children, yes my family has generations that used comfort food as comfort, and yes I do sit at a desk in an office all day for my career, but that doesn't mean I have to make society accept my weight.

It sounds like a bunch of self-conscious overweight people in denial run this site who would be happier pointing their fingers at everyone else while they order the super-sized combo with a diet coke (after working 4 years in fast food during high school I saw my fair share of the people who ordered those). We don't need an organization crying "foul" and trying to get America to accept fat, we need overweight people to quit playing a victim and crying injustice and do something to change their own life.

I had to just get that off my chest because I am overweight and rather than blame burgers and fries, portion sizes in restaurants, or even my gene pool, I'm taking accountability and eating better, jornaling everything I eat, and making an effort to get off my butt more. If I can do and everyone on here does it, why can't these people too?!?

I don't think it's so much a campaign to get America to "accept fat", but to get America to realize that fat people are human too and as such deserve to be treated with respect and dignity regardless of whether they are able or willing to 'get off their butts more'. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the organization's intentions *shrug* I haven't read their mission statement or anything, but why anyone would be AGAINST the acceptance of fellow human beings regardless of their personal circumstances or the size of their pants, is beyond me.

ScienceMom77

Omg there should be no such organization.

That was my first thought too...

DanielDefelice

This is the reply of a person who clearly did not grow up in poverty but wants to say they did to add credibility to their post. No one who has ever had to work two jobs just to get by would say it is just as easy to make healthy food as it is to go to McDonalds and that does not ever consider the cost.

If you really want to eat a healthy diet then it is far more expensive and time consuming than eating fast foods. In this country, a lot of people want to think they grew up poor because they could not afford to go to Mexico on spring break. Real poverty is a much different thing.

To say having no time and no money and no safe place to get exericse are not excuses to be fat is to shout oout to the world that you have never lived that life.

ErinBeth7

I don't know how much "Advancing" this association is doing because I had no awareness of them.

dumb_blondes_rock

i was poor growing up, and also was fat.....its sad that sometimes fat and poor go hand in hand nowadays because its so much cheaper (in our town) to go to mcdonalds for dinner then it is to go to albertsons and spend 20 dollars just for a dinner for 2. Now that i'm older im in control of what gets bought in the house and i drive 45 mins to go shopping at a cheaper store, but kids need that education on what food is bad, because they literally have no idea why they are big and what foods are healthy or bad. My two little cousins lost 15 pounds each (one was 5 and the other 10) while living with us because for the first time they actually had a home cooked meal every night and when they ever told me they were bored i would make them walk our dogs. They found out that veggies can actually taste good even if it isn't drenched in butter and cheese. when they moved out, the oldest liked how good he felt and looked and even though the mom is still cooking horrible velveeta everything for them, he likes to go out and ride his bike and scooter and try to get some exercise to try to stay in shape. The little one i am worried about though, I try to not use the "you are gaining weight" thing around him, but tell him that if he plays outside more and exercises, his pants will fit better....but hes one that i wouldn't b e suprised if he had a heart attack at 25....so sad the world we live in

dumb_blondes_rock

for anyone who is struggling financially, you can eat healthy for cheap, its just the portion sizes are out of control. I found that if my dad and i ate the correct portion sizes of foods, they last us twice as long. plus i use this website a LOT.

www.5dollardinners.com

mhankosk

I really hope someone else besides me googled images of Peggy Howell...

chauncyrenayCHANGED

Why not suggest all kids should eat healthfully, instead of implying only fat kids have to?

Yes! This is the point. It's only targeting overweight children. Show some thin children eating cheetos and sitting on the couch, too.

Scott613

It's like elementary school contests, where everyone gets an award, even the losers...

They're called participation ribbons. I wanna see a kid who has a wall full of participation ribbons. Probably won't happen because its not an accomplishment. Instead of "accepting" obesity how about doing something about it.

hotmama1174

I am disgusted that there is an actual company called The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance-that is ridiculous! I am all for not discriminating, supporting those who are fat so that they can get fair opportunities but Advance Fat Acceptance that is taking it too far.

Sad that Disney caved...not all fat people are lazy however, our children are suffering from poor eating habits, low movement and ultimately laziness. I HATE seeing fat kids it infuriates me!

Ugh-don't get me started, I can go on about this for days!

cmeade20

I really hope someone else besides me googled images of Peggy Howell...

Who is Peggy Howell

chanstriste13

It's like elementary school contests, where everyone gets an award, even the losers...

They're called participation ribbons. I wanna see a kid who has a wall full of participation ribbons. Probably won't happen because its not an accomplishment. Instead of "accepting" obesity how about doing something about it.

i think pretty much everyone who has posted on this board are batting for the same team. i think the issue with so much controversy is at what point can a person be expected to 'do something about it'. adults, sure, can try and fix things, like everyone on here. but what would you suggest a nine year old do? they are pretty much harnessed to their parents' habits until they can leave the house of get a job and buy their own food.

archgrrrl

Why not suggest all kids should eat healthfully, instead of implying only fat kids have to?

Yes! This is the point. It's only targeting overweight children. Show some thin children eating cheetos and sitting on the couch, too.

I agree! If you're going to teach children about healthy lifestyle choices, don't vilify them by making the "bad guys" fat and the "good guys" thin.