Thank you Marley for reading and responding to this. I’ve also known women who’ve been dieting since we were like 9 years old and after hearing my 8 year old nephew trying to find ways to lose weight, I think it’s an important to address.

When researching this I discovered that doctors and obesity researchers tend to operate from two different places. Doctors blame patients for being fat and think that they don’t have enough willpower, but obesity researchers KNOW that obesity is much more complicated than eating less calories and exercising more. For example, women are more likely to eat less calories and exercise, but we’re more likely to be obese. Because of this obesity researchers want more gender-based research. Obesity research that shows a link between obesity and unhealthiness are predominantly male and the true isn’t always the same for obese women.

All of this is to say that this is a very difficult topic to address 1.) because the research isn’t widespread and accepted and 2.) because people are still operating under the assumption that all obesity = unhealthiness. There’s a reason the most obese country is also the one with the highest rates of eating disorders.