thinking about @Jane_Black ‘s post last week: maybe it’s not just being called obese that’s discouraging. http://trunc.it/ds7h6
Jane Black’s ruminations on the language of the obesity epidemic got me thinking. SHe writes:
The way we talk about [health] is important because labeling people as overweight and obese doesn’t necessarily motivate them to change their lifestyles. During our time in Huntington, we’ve noticed a certain fragility among people who are struggling to make changes to their diets. If they fall off the wagon and get a donut for breakfast, they feel the day, the week – the entire effort – is ruined. It’s almost like they’re looking for an excuse to fail, to stop. It seems that the label “obese” has the same effect on some people. They feel discouraged and just give up. The attitude is: I’m fat. It’s hopeless. So why bother to even try?
I’ve seen a similar fatalism among families on welfare, or just struggling to get by—not just about health but about everything.
I think the real problem behind the vocabulary Black is articulating here is that when people feel a lack of control it’s very hard to feel like anything you do matters. That’s true for people who are heavy and trying to lose weight, but it’s also true in a broader social sense. When you work your ass off and are still broke, when you give it the best that you have and it’s still not enough to live better than hand-to-mouth….well, it takes a special inner spirit to not be discouraged and fatalistic about your life prospects in general, including your health.
And not to get all dour and Midwest here, but when my budget is low, I am more inclined to treat myself to something edible (or, frequently, drinkable) as a way to ease the stress that comes from having wallet that is empty but a list of bills that is not. And I’d say that’s particularly true if, as is the case for most Americans working on minimum wage, I see no end in sight.
