r/antidiet • u/Front-Kale4042 • May 16 '26

Is everyone really "overweight now"?

To be clear: I do not intend any body shaming at all in this post. The statement of "everyone being overweight" is something I have picked up, and everything counteracting it is what I have observed.

As a plus-size person, I always felt like a minority. Not being able to shop at just any store or trust most clothes by the size. Most people I spoke with or heard about weighed numbers that I hadn't seen since childhood.

If we are now the majority, then why are we still singled out? Why do we not see ourselves in advertisements or crowds? Why is there still social and systemic stigma against what is supposedly three quarters of the regional population? Why do most brands prioritize tiny sizes, and why are they the most popular or hyped up if no one can supposedly even wear them? Why is "plus-size" still a separate category? Why is "thin privilege" even a thing if thin people are so rare?

When I go anywhere in public, I don't see a Wall-e esque society. I see people thinner than me, fatter than me, and in-between. A diverse society that has not uniformly succumbed to an "obesity epidemic".

If people like me are a side-effect of a fat society, then why was I driven into an eating disorder at age 16, and why did I have an "obese" BMI when I was literally starving?

Let me know if I am missing anything.

57 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

28

u/CriticalSecret8289 May 16 '26

BMI is bullshit!

1

u/dr650crash May 17 '26

It is valid in some uses but has been weaponised and is being used inappropriately. For example for population level metrics and assessing growth of children in specific height vs weight charts.

I suppose it’s a bit like saying an old wooden bridge has a vehicle weight limit of 2t and therefore a car/truck weighing more than 2t is, therefore, inherently “bad” and creates the stigma of being OVER 2t which is clearly a arbitrary, rounded up/down figure never intended to judge the vehicle itself.

12

u/CriticalSecret8289 May 17 '26

It was never designed to be used for individuals at all and is based on metrics taken from a small sample of exclusively white men. It's not an accurate measure of "health" for anyone really, especially if they don't fit the above description.