The skinny on size acceptance

By Cassandra Morrissey
Chad Parkhurst is a 27 year old male. He was born and raised in Ilion N.Y., and currently works as an accountant for New York Life. He enjoys watching movies and playing with his dog Duke. Although Parkhurst says he’s the happiest and healthiest he’s felt entire life, he has a BMI of 31.6.
“I get to eat what I want, and I finally feel comfortable in my body. So what if statistics claim I’m obese. I’m happy in my body,” said Parkhurst.
Accepting your body image is a difficult concept thousands of people struggle with. Whether it’s thinking you’re overweight or too skinny, the majority of the American population is unsatisfied with their body. According to the Social Issues and Research Centre, 80 percent of females over the age of 18 are unhappy with their physical appearance. One movement that is trying to combat this rising issue is the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.
NAAFA is a national non- profit organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on body size. Their goal is for society to accept people of every size and shape with dignity and equality. Janet Severe is the co-chair of the Rocky Mountain NAAFA organization. Although the majority of individuals joined NAAFA to gain support from others; social networking is the driving force to belong to the organization.
“We talk about discrimination, stereotyping, and problems we’ve encountered. We are able to share experiences and connect with each other. If there is a group of us together, it makes me less scared to go out and do different things,” said Severe.
According to the Center for Disease Control, over two- third of adult Americas are overweight and half of those qualify as obese. Although, there is still discrimination based upon someone’s size. Whether it’s at work or the grocery store, obese individuals continue to find themselves criticized for their body image.
“Weight discrimination is one of the last discriminations people feel is okay in our society, and it’s not,” said Severe.
Although not everyone is satisfied with NAAFA’s message. Karleen Lowell, 26, is currently 5 feet 5 and 230 pounds. She has been battling weight her entire life, and believes support for exercising it more helpful then encouragement based on her current appearance.
“Sometimes it helps if someone is straight forward with me about my appearance. I want someone to tell me what I should and shouldn’t eat. Not someone saying its okay how I look and its okay I’m overweight. I’m unhappy with how I look, and I want to change that,” said Lowell.
One outlet some people are finding help with eating habits is through a food coach. Donna James is the director and principal consultant of the Food Coach in NYC. As a certified clinical nutritionist, she deals with obesity or eating disorders on a daily basis. One of the main factors she includes when talking to people is the importance of overall health.
“We want people to feel positive about being overweight. However, along with that, you want to factor in a positive attitude with food and exercise,” said James.
According to James, she discusses overall body health and appreciation with people of all sizes. An extremely thin individual might be receiving as much discrimination for their body shape as an obese person, and it’s still going unnoticed.
“We don’t strive to make people feel conscious of what they look like; the ultimate aim is for them to walk out with a positive view of their body and health,” said James.
Another outlet many people find support is through detailed programs aimed at fighting relationships with food. Ilene Leshinski is a licensed clinical social worker who began a program called Body Sense. The program is a 12 week session aimed at battling issues with weight management and finding our own natural weight.
“We have to be comfortable with our body and not buy into the concept that thinness is the only image of beauty, because it’s not,” said Leshinski.
Moderation and overall health are factors Leshinski includes when discussing health with individuals.
“ We’re basically trying to tell people that everyone was not meant to be thin and we can eat what we want in moderation, however, we still need to be healthy and take the best care of ourselves that we can,” said Leshinski.
Parkhurst and Lowell have different opinions about their body image; they both find support from their friends, nutritional outlets and organizations. Although Parkhurst has found satisfaction and happiness with his body, he still hopes people begin accepting people for who they are, rather then how they look.
“I’m going to be the same person I am now or if I weigh 50 pounds less. I just wish people would realize that. Size discrimination is unfair and believe me, it hurts. I just wish people would realize that.”