12 pound Christmas: weight does not define health

At the moment there are a lot of people who advertise, including Sky News that you have to take off during the holidays, although it is assumed that the average person is increasing (link removed) - my husband has lost more than that after a trip to the bathroom (I am not joking here (link).

Where does it come from and what can we do about it?

I have to make it clear, no matter what someone says, weight and health are largely mutually exclusive. For most people on this planet, there is no causal connection between weight gain and health-in fact a study that was carried out over seven years in the United States has shown that almost half of the Americans (left) classified as overweight, 29% of the OB * SE- and 16 SE participants were healthy, but 30% of the people classified as normal. This one study showed that more than 74 million Americans were incorrectly classified as unhealthy.

There are countless other studies from which I quote and that I can use here, but the logic is the same: weight and health are two different things, and your health is not determined by the weight of your body.

In fact, the World Health Organization itself defines health as a "state of complete physical, mental and social well -being and not just as a absence of illness or ailments". This definition takes or mentions not only your weight, but also other factors that can affect your health, such as psychological well -being and social well -being, and it's not just about being free from diagnostic diseases.

Why do we define ourselves through our weight?

If the WHO does not use a weight when defining health, where does all this hullabaloo come from? Why is it not only said by personal trainers, but also by the media and doctors in the western world that our weight is the core of our health?

To answer this question, I have to attribute it to what we know today as a pseudo science, but at that time it was considered the highlight of science and good logic. Please remember that white European men at the same time think about the differences between people and how to classify them - we also believed that cancer and anemia could be healed by leeches, and cocaine was a regular ingredient in the cough bought in the store. What wonderful times they were ... if they were white and rich - the rest of the world, not so much ...

Anyway, during the Victorian period and earlier, “scientists” were fixed on what people did as they are. During this time, people thought of being a different race was comparable to another species and people to whom one believed (link removed) - the practice, the character or personality of a person based on their external appearance. This was so common that guidelines were published in which it was explained how people can be assessed based on their appearance and body type.

At this time, in the 19th century, a Belgian astronomer (Adolphe Quetelet) developed, which was also obsessed with physiognomy and how our appearance determined our criminal tendency, a formula to determine the connection between the size and weight of men, and as his first the formula did not match the data he had. He changed the formula and called it the Quetelet formula.

Later, in the 1970s, Ancel Keys, a cardiologist, whose studies and work did not withstand modern strict scientific tests, wanted to withstand from the Metlife tables used by the insurance industry for size and weight to something more precise and after use according to the data of 7400 white men was the Quetelet formula, which is now used as a body mass, more easily used than other Indices and a a little more precise for population groups.

This work, combined with the inheritance of the temperature movement, that of Dr. Kelloggs was propagated - yes, Kelloggs - gives us health. At this point I advise you based on a certain number of words, Dr. Kelloggs and what he originally planned to google.

give up state of health

Health protection was defined as "dealing with personal health as the primary - often primary - focus on the definition and achievement of well -being". By Robert Crawford. And you can see how this has been woven into the tissue of our society - we judge ourselves and others according to their perceived state of health, and the media do so too. You can recognize this by the fact that people who live in larger bodies are considered unhealthy and are represented as lazy and stupid. Other types of proven unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use are often shown as sexy or "rock and roll".

We live in a world in which wellness is considered a moral obligation, although this takes into account nothing more than our physical appearance, which has largely been done with our health.

There are many factors outside of our control that can affect our health. In fact, the British government has published (linked) It shows that there are over 100 factors that lead to the weight of a person, and about 30% of the factors are in our control, which means that we have no control over 70% of the factors that lead to our weight.

In this sense, you should not pay too much attention to the people who warn of the dangers of gain in weight during the holidays. If you are already there, you will also miss the latest training program recommended by celebrities and throw away all dietary recipe books that someone buys you as a gift. Do you have this additional minced meat cake and / or the ball without feelings of guilt!