Would you say that overweight people are marginalized in society?

Question

Before I was 8 years old I was already over 100 pounds and I would gain about 20 pounds per month when I first started going through puberty. When I was about 12 I tried to maintain at a steady weight. Now I’m in my 20’s it’s harder for some reason. I don’t mind gaining weight only thing is I noticed how some of my family who’s over 400-500 pounds was having difficulty doing the most simple things then they would ridicule me for being smaller than them. I was thinking about asking my doctor about it. I do admit I had a difficult childhood and the thought of growing up and “getting bigger” sometimes upsets me due to how I was made fun of for it as a child. I try to eat as best I could yet sometimes I don’t want to have anything because in the back of my brain I get nauseous and upset of if I gain weight the comments people used to have about me would come back and overall I’m in between of wanting to be a woman and look like one yet also wanting to be a child again and look like one.

Answer

This isn’t actually controversial. It’s well studied and well supported that there is bias against people in larger bodies. The stigma is prevalent in healthcare, where larger bodied people get blamed more for their health conditions, get fewer appropriate tests run, take longer to be treated for symptoms due to it being assumed to be due to their weight, etc. In work settings, there is also discrimination against larger bodied people in hiring and promotions. 
I would highly recommend looking into Intuitive Eating (there’s a book and a workbook) and also Anti-Diet and the Health At Every Size book and movement. They’re all great, and talk about having a healthy relationship with food that isn’t based on dieting, restriction, or a focus on body size.

Answer

It’s harder now because as you get older your metabolism changes. Little kids burn a lot more energy than adults. Your body changes as you get older, you develop. You’re never going to go back to a 12 year old body. My issue with society is we don’t show normal women. We have Victoria secret models or Lizzo. What happened to the in betweens of the world? I’ve learnt over the years to embrace my body and all the imperfections. I’ve had 11 kids, my body shows it.

Answer

I think people who are overweight will always have some bullying and ridicule since unfortunately being different than the "norm" many different ways will get people picked on, especially children which is sad because it isn't a child's fault the way they are raised and fed. But it also is becoming much more normalized in America especially that many people are overweight. People are bigger than ever and honestly if I talk into a store I feel like the majority of people are over weight. Modeling has become much much more inclusive over the years. There are rv shows whos main focus is people who are overweight and things they go through. I feel like it's less "shocking" to see a 500lb person now as it was maybe in the 90s growing up I feel like that same person would have gotten a lot more negative attention. At least where I live that's a pretty normal sight. There will always be assholes who will make fun of someone for weight, looks , etc. It seems though through media and whatnot there's a big push for "fat acceptance" not a term I love but what I see used. There's even changes being made in the medical field due to patients feeling uncomfortable with how weight is discussed. I feel  those changes will be the slowest to catch on but I do find the overall there's a shift at least in my country to change the language we use , and the overall acceptance and normalization of those who are over weight.

Would you say that overweight people are marginalized in society?

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