the early protestants believed that the way to salvation was through hard work and self-discipline. max weber, one of the early sociologists, argued that this “ protestant ethic ” became core to capitalism.
while western society has grown less religious over time , we continue to value working hard and containing ourselves. on occasion we justify letting loose, but resolutions bring us back to that original protestant core value: self-discipline.
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chalk that up to the frequent messages that fat bodies are bad, and thin bodies are good . thinness has long been thought to be virtuous, an idea that also has its roots in christianity , where fatness was associated with sloth (the opposite of hard work), and eating with carnal pleasures and sinfulness.
neither are true. we are continually told we can all be thin if we eat less and exercise more but that assumption is unscientific. in one of the most robust studies of intensive, long-term support for changing lifestyle routines, o nly 27 per cent of participants bodies were 10 per cent lighter over an eight-year period. a 10-per-cent reduction of weight is significant, but does not necessarily mean a thin body.
a recent example has been the follow-up studies of participants in the biggest loser. thirteen of 14 contestants regained the body fat. what’s more, the dramatic eating and exercise routines promoted on the show actually slowed the participants’metabolism over time !
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if you exercise and eat the same as people 30 years ago, you’re likely to have a body that is substantially heavier and fatter . so what else is at play? answering that question is still a work in progress. an attempt to map the various influences on weight gives a much more honest and complex picture, one that is still incomplete.
corporations sell us unhealthy food , then run campaigns about the importance of moderation. they even lobby governments to recommend their unhealthy foods to the public.
the media is rife with judgmental and dehumanizing messages about fatness. this is true of both news and entertainment media . consider the latest offering: netflix’s insatiable , a show about a girl whose body drops pounds after her jaw is wired shut, then gets revenge on her bullies. the show is something of one long fat joke.
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governments continue to allow non-nutritious foods to be sold, while supporting public health campaigns that emphasize self-discipline. health promotions campaigns continue to use visual messages that fuel disgust, shame and loathing of bodily fat despite evidence that such campaigns are less effective and deepen stigmatization , which worsens health .
to some, this is a rejection of the social norms that create solidarity. people might become uncomfortable or defensive when others refuse to participate in moralistic talk about food, exercise and bodies — talk that sounds something like “ i can have this piece of cake because i worked out this morning .”
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this article originally appeared online at theconversation.com , an independent source of news and views, from the academic and research community.