The Fat Aren't Jolly...EXCUSE ME!!

Bye · July 4, 2006

Don't you feel the world is attacking obese people this week? It seems each day a new article comes out with another poke at obesity.

Now, they are saying that being obese is linked to mental illness and that the fat aren't jolly?

True, I am an emotional eater, who added two hundred pounds following the deaths of my mother and my boyfriend --- BUT I have always been FAT AND JOLLY!! I never denied myself anything that gave pleasure, and food gave pleasure. Also, I am a people person, so sharing good company and good food -- with a lot of laughter -- was common in my life. Though I am learning smarter ways to manage my weight, I certainly don't want to lose the laughter and friends.

Joyce

Here's the AP article...

Study says obesity, depression linked

By LINDSEY TANNER

The Associated Press

CHICAGO — Obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders, according to a new study by Group Health Cooperative.

Whether obesity might cause these problems or is the result of them is not certain, but there are theories to support both arguments.

Depression often causes people to abandon activities, and some medications used to treat mental illness can cause weight gain. On the other hand, obesity is often seen as a stigma, and overweight people often are subject to teasing and other hurtful behavior.

The study of more than 9,000 adults found that mood and anxiety disorders, including depression, were about 25 percent more common in the obese people studied than in the nonobese. Substance abuse was an exception; obese people were about 25 percent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than slimmer participants.

The results appear in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, released Monday. The lead author was Dr. Gregory Simon, a researcher with Group Health in Seattle.

The results "suggest that the cultural stereotype of the jolly fat person is more a figment of our imagination than a reality," said Dr. Wayne Fenton of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.

"The take-home message for doctors is to be on the lookout for depression among their patients who are overweight," Fenton said.

Both conditions are quite common. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese, and depression affects about 10 percent of the population, or nearly 21 million U.S. adults in a given year.

Previous studies produced conflicting results on whether obesity is linked with mental illness, although a growing body of research suggests there is an association.

The latest study helps resolve the question, said Dr. Susan McElroy, editor of a textbook on obesity and mental disorders.

"This is a state-of-the-art psychiatric epidemiology study that really confirms that there is, in fact, a relationship," she said.

The study was based on an analysis of a national survey of 9,125 adults who were interviewed to assess mental state. Obesity status was determined using participants' self-reported weight and height.

About one-fourth of all participants were obese. Twenty-two percent of obese participants had experienced a mood disorder, compared with 18 percent of the nonobese.

Woodys · July 4, 2006

Joyce: I see this "in your face" constant publication on the topic of obesity in a very different way.

I believe that public awareness is so necessary to bring it home for some obese....they need to know the consequences of obesity and if this is the way to do it then I'm all for it.

I don't see it as poking fun or insulting the obese at all.....I see it as waving the red flag in hopes that the obese will consider the consequences of their state of body.

Carol

Bye · July 4, 2006

Good points, Jack and Carol. I guess it just hit me as another slam against obese people this morning.

Honestly, I am known to talk through a meal without eating at all now, because I am done first with my small veggie plate. I still consider myself "fat and jolly", but I just want to be less fat.

And yes, I have a long list that this 200 lbs in the past ten years has kept me from doing...like sitting in a booth. But I really want to do adventure travel again. I haven't hiked, etc. in years.

Not that I want them to find good things about being obese, but I want the powers that be to remember we are people with the great span of emotions -- just like them.

Joyce

sleepyjean · July 4, 2006

In my case, obesity and depression are irrevocably linked. One causes the other, which causes the other, which causes the other.

I think the statement that "fat people are jolly" is just as asinine as "fat people are depressed." But the truth is, people who have never been fat or obese generally have NO freakin clue what it's like. They can't even imagine how we could let ourselves get this way.