The Fat Acceptance Movement concerns me.

I’m all for loving your body and accepting who you are. We all struggle everyday with the thought that we aren’t good enough. I understand what it’s like to question your abilities based on your appearance. I get it. I just don’t understand the concept that one can be “healthy at every size,” because you just can’t.

The Fat Acceptance Movement, also known as fat activism, is the social trend working to change the mindsets toward accepting body types, whether they are larger than the “ideal” or seriously obese.

The movement is most active online, where sites like Tumblr host a multitude of photos, graphics and screen grabs of items showing or supporting “fat equality.”

Some photos feature severely obese women in their undergarments with the tags #fat, #fat acceptance, #chubby and #fat love. Others feature large ladies in crop tops and short shorts, complete with a long paragraph condemning anyone who told them they were overweight and should watch their waistlines, accompanied by #fatshion, #fatspo and #chubby bunnies.

The Fat Acceptance Movement pushes ideas like the one behind “#fatspo,” encouraging obese men and women to believe others view this kind of body weight as something society should accept and promote. Inspiring anyone to embrace morbid obesity is dangerous and potentially life-threatening.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, more than one-third of American adults are obese. That’s 78.9 million people who are at an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and various types of cancers. They wouldn’t have to be at risk if their weight was at a healthier level. In addition, the number of obese children is higher than ever before. In 2012, 18 percent of children aged 6–11 were obese, up by 11 percent since 1980.

Everyone should be inspired to live a wholly healthy life. Worry less about the number on a scale, the length on a tape measure and the tag on your jeans. Regular cardiovascular and strength exercise combined with a balanced diet is much more crucial than how a bikini looks on you, regardless of how much you weigh.

I do not agree that people with serious health issues — those which can be resolved by managing their weight — should be encouraged to drown out suggestions to lose weight or eat better. The fact that people accept and embrace a shorter life with medical and physical complications is disturbing. Placing limitations on yourself willingly because of some convoluted idea that this is who you are and we better accept the 350-pound you is just not OK. Your life is worth more than that.

Our current society places a high level of pressure on young women to be thin, trim and flawless. “Thinspiration” has its flaws, too. This doesn’t mean the concept of obesity being OK should be promoted, either.

It is OK to go through struggles. It is OK to eat too much pizza or a pint of ice cream at the end of a bad day. It is OK to not be perfect. But it is not OK to accept yourself as something that is blatantly unhealthy and in most cases, changeable.

Georgie Silvarole is a sophomore newspaper and online journalism major. Her column appears weekly. You can reach her at gmsilvar@syr.edu or on Twitter at @gsilvarole.

Published on September 24, 2014 at 12:01 am