The Web address of this article is
https://sfhelp.org/gwc/news/fat+happy.htm
This mass-media news article suggests that
self-neglect is widespread in
America. That suggests the undocumented prevalence of excessive shame
("I'm not worth taking care of") and denial ("I can ignore my health
safely"). See my comments after the article. The links and hilights
below
are mine. -
Peter Gerlach, MSW
+ + +
By now most people's New Years
resolutions are as stale as any leftover Superbowl potato chips or Christmas
fruitcake. The resolve to quit smoking, or lose weight and get fit, fades
quickly. They are great ideas, but the self-improvement fever lasts only a
few weeks, and by March, gyms across the country are cashing in on unused
memberships.
Why is this? America is often
described as a nation of chronic dieters. In a Jan. 16, 2006, cover
article in U.S. News & World Report, Amanda Spake suggested that Americans
should 'Stop dieting. Stop obsessing about every morsel you put in your
mouth, stop weighing yourself twice a day, stop letting your quest to be
thin control your life." Good advice—if it were true.
The idea that Americans are obsessed
with weight loss is a myth.
Journalists cite misleading statistics such as that Americans spend $33
billion each year on weight loss—everything from fad diets to books to
exercise equipment. As impressive as the number sounds, it is not a true
measure of commitment to losing weight. Books, diet plans, and Stairmasters
don't make people lose weight. People make people lose weight. Spending
money is easy; the problem is the follow-through.
The surprising reality is that most
Americans are not dieting, and are not really trying to lose weight.
If Americans were truly committed to getting fit and losing weight, they
would eat less and exercise more. Yet most people steadfastly refuse to do
it.
In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control reported that Americans are eating
more than ever, and women in particular are eating over 300 more calories a
day than they did in 1971.
Two-thirds of Americans are overweight, yet fewer than one-third get regular
exercise.
The simple fact is that losing weight just isn't that important to
people.
A 1993 Yankelovich survey found that over half of Americans said they
weren't at all concerned with watching their weight, and studies show that
fewer than one-quarter of Americans are dieting. In 2002 Glamour magazine
asked more than 11,000 readers what they would give up to slim down
permanently. Three-quarters would not give up eating dessert, and only 41
percent would pay $3,000 to be thin forever. Almost a quarter said they
would not give up anything to lose weight.
Many of us would like to lose weight in the same way we'd like to get rich
by winning the lottery: We'll do it
if it doesn't take too much effort. Americans don't want to take the
figurative and literal steps to achieve our goals. We want to eat more and
weigh less. Diet and exercise—the only proven method for effective,
sustained weight loss—sounds good but
takes too much willpower for most of us.
The myth that most diets fail has it exactly backward: Instead, most people
fail diets. Just about any sensible diet will help a person lose weight.
Blaming the diet because the dieter quit is like blaming the unused
treadmill for not doing its job. The real solution isn't in fad diets or
workout DVDs; the solution is in the
mirror.
+ + +
Benjamin Radford, Managing Editor of
Skeptical Inquirer magazine, wrote about popular myths in his book
"Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us."
Comments
Recent media
reports and headlines suggest that an
increasing percentage of American adults and kids are "significantly
overweight," and risk serious health risks like heart disease,
stroke, live damage, and diabetes. Including exercise programs and
equipment, the U.S. weight-loss programs and products in the are a
multi-billion dollar (growth?) industry. This suggests millions people are
willing to pay to control or reduce their weight and improve their health.
However...
This article suggests that typical Americans are NOT seriously concerned
with overeating and overweight and - by implication - related serious health
risks. If true, this indirectly supports two major premises in this
nonprofit Web site: that...
-
A high percentage of average Americans are
- i.e. they don't spontaneously give high priority to their (and often
their kids')
and...
-
they
this self-neglect and what it means for them, their families and descendents,
and our society.
Other studies imply that self-neglect ("low
self esteem") results from a low-nurturance
upbringing.
I propose that low-nurturance families result from adults who inherited the inherited [wounds + unawareness]
|
This article doesn't propose why typical Americans lack
"the willpower" to diet and exercise healthily. Restated - the author doesn't
speculate on or propose research on why Americans don't care about their
own health very much. After
36 years' clinical research, I propose that the unacknowledged reason is -
a high percentage of average Americans
(like you?) are
(GWCs) in toxic denial, and our society ignores that, so far.
|
in this nonprofit Web site offers more perspective on this premise, and
proposes three practical steps to
break the toxic, epidemic cycle and protect our future generations.
