Worth a read: Jan 06/10
Sitetes linked to are not necessarily reflective of my own opinions and beliefs.
Fat adults are the product of traumatic childhoods, apparently
For the past several decades, the ACE study has recorded reports of negative childhood experiences in more than 17,000 patients. Adverse experiences include ongoing child neglect, living with one or no biological parent, having a mentally ill, incarcerated or drug-addicted parent, witnessing domestic violence, and sexual, physical or emotional abuse. The researchers then searched for correlations between these experiences and adult health and the risk of disease.
Is fat a defence for breaking the law?
A judge for the Portsmouth District Court in New Hampshire recently overturned a driving while intoxicated (DWI) conviction based on the defense that the man was obese and should not have been given certain field sobriety tests.
Where the Fatties don’t roam Kate Harding discusses that dating site, the one that kicked out all the fatties.
The word “fatties” doesn’t scandalize me, and I can’t say I’m surprised to learn that a dating site that forces potential members through the “Hot or Not” gauntlet encourages sizeism. I’m going to go out on a limb and say I bet it also privileges young, able-bodied people with shiny hair, clear skin and sparkly white teeth…
I am fat & I had a very traumatic childhood, as well as a lot of fat relatives, but it MUST be the traumatic childhood which makes me fat, despite the fact that plenty of thin people also had traumatic childhoods & I am sure more than a few fat people did not have particularly traumatic childhood. However, if they can find a fat person who had a traumatic childhood, that MUST be scientific proof of cause & effect.
The most telling quotes for me are (from the driving story);
The “fat defense” is sometimes used by defendants in personal injury actions, but as a factor in attempting to decrease plaintiff damages by showing injuries were worsened because of pre-existing obesity .
From the traumatic childhoods article;
High ACE [adverse childhood experiences] scorers who do not overeat, smoke or take drugs still have high rates of obesity, heart disease, depression and diabetes.
I recognise that in the latter case, many are wary of fatness being linked with some kind of mental injury and so forth.
But I think the point is that it’s not what happens to you, it’s how your body and probably more specifically, your nervous system responds to what has happened to you.
I don’t think recognising the possible links between trauma in general and childhood trauma in particular and health necessarily means that fat people are more psychologically injured than others, just that traum causes some people’s bodies to respond in this way.
I wonder what would happen if they made a comparison with underweight people, because I suspect that can be a (disproportionate )response too. As ever though I am mindful of being cautious about drawing firm conclusions from this.
Oh, for the love of Pete, a gobble-o-meter? Would it help at this juncture to note that my husband, the one who’s “normal” weight, scoffs down food like there’s no tomorrow? I eat far more slowly than he does and I’m the fat one.
Oh, but wait, I must be lying!!!
*sigh*
Thanks for the links
RE: childhood trauma, I agree with what Wriggles said. I think that studies that have shown a link between obesity and stress could come into play here. The stress of childhood trauma could screw up a child’s delicate metabolic balance in a lasting way. I wonder if the stress/obesity link could also come into play in the study that was being trumpeted yesterday about married women being heavier than single women. I would think that the stress of balancing a relationship could easily impact the metabolism.
If sobriety tests are conducted in such a way that people with particular body-types are more likely to fail, then yes, that’s discrimination. Same goes for disabilities. Personally, I have chronic vertigo (unrelated to my weight) and can’t walk a straight line at any time, despite being a non-drinker! Lucky we just get breathalysed here (and I’m not an asthmatic!).