Fat acceptance movement

Most individuals are overweight due to their dietary and exercise habits.

The fat acceptance movement is a social movement that seeks to remove the social stigma caused by various negative attitudes/beliefs related to obesity and/or excess overweight. Fat acceptance movement activists have various initiatives to influence the legal, political and medical communities. The fat acceptance movement is a subculture.

Two of the major risk factors for becoming obese according to the Mayo Clinic are poor dietary choices and inactivity. Most individuals are overweight due to their dietary and exercise habits. See also: Bariatric science

Fat acceptance movement and the denial that being overweight can be a choice

Deborah Lupton in her book Fat wrote:

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One dominant argument in the fat activist literature concerns the issue of personal responsibility for fatness. Many fat activist writers contend that fat embodiment is not a 'lifestyle choice', as is generally presented by the anti-obesity perspective, but rather a product of a combination of genetic and other physiological factors which work together to ensure that their bodies are very efficient at storing fat tissue. Fatness is therefore represented as an inherent physical attribute, like gender, skin colour, race or sexual orientation. These writers assert that fat people are not fat because they eat more than others or exercise less, or in any other way.

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Rejection of the movement by the medical science community and public policy makers

Given that the fields of nutritional science, exercise science, and the medical science field as a whole has a number of solutions to obesity and/or excess weight and given the multiple health risk of obesity and excess weight, the medical community has not endorsed the fat acceptance movement. In addition, public policy makers in many countries (especially developed countries) and the World Health Organization, actively warn the public about the risks of obesity and have other anti-obesity initiatives.

Fat acceptance movement and the Abrahamic faiths

Two of the major risk factors for becoming obese according to the Mayo Clinic are poor dietary choices and inactivity.

The Bible declares that gluttony and sloth are sins. Furthermore, the Bible declares the physical body of Christians to be temples of the Holy Spirit. There have been no prominent Christian leaders in the world advocating the fat acceptance movement

In addition, no Jewish or Islamic leaders have come out in support of the fat acceptance movement. The Old Testament has multiple verses against gluttony and sloth (for example, Proverbs 23:20-21, Proverbs 28:7, Proverbs 23:2 and Amos 4:1).

Atheism and the fat acceptance movement

See also: Atheism and the fat acceptance movement and Atheism and obesity

While there are many atheists who recognize the vast amount of medical data indicating the harmful effects of being overweight, there have been prominent atheists who have engaged in denialism and have very much agreed with the fat acceptance" movement (See: Atheism and the fat acceptance movement). Furthermore, atheists have been interviewed by major news outlets and have advocated the fat acceptance movement.

Since the majority of atheists are on the left side of the political spectrum (see: Atheism and politics), politically left leaning atheists (such as feminists) who subscribe to fat acceptance movement ideology typically subscribe to the fat acceptance movement's identity politics type complaints of "thin privilege" (see: Atheism and the fat acceptance movement). Rather than take responsibility for their health choices, they would rather wallow in self-pity and play the victim (As noted above, most individuals are overweight due to their dietary and exercise habits). See: Bariatric science

See also

• Physical and mental health related problems associated with obesity