Is Fat Becoming the New Thin?

Last evening I went clothes shopping with a friend of mine. Now, my friend is not by any medical definition overweight or obese, but she is not a thin person either. She probably has about 15-20 pounds she could comfortably lose to be within her healthy weight range (use the BMI Calculator to see where your weight is). As she shopped for some new pants and shirts, I couldn’t help notice an interesting phenomenon occurring – all of the pants sizes and shirt sizes she was trying on were “smaller”. My friend even commented on this saying that usually she needs to buy a 34 waist pant, but lately 32 has fit just fine and she used to buy medium sized shirts, but now many small sizes fit too.

Despite larger body sizes becoming the norm, Americans should strive to lower obesity and improve overall health.

As we shopped around in a number of popular, brand name stores we couldn’t help notice that many lines of clothing have increased their sizes. What was once considered a “small” is now larger and can accommodate someone who once fit in a “medium”, and so on. This made me ask the question – are we, as a society, just adapting our surroundings to the growing waistline of the majority of Americans? Is what we used to consider “fat” becoming the new “thin”?

When I got home last night I spent some time thinking about this interesting concept. I went online and found in no time plenty of evidence that supports my theory that as we get bigger as a society, so to we make larger accommodations for our growing bodies. For example, I found an interesting article called “America’s Ever-Bigger Bottoms Bedeviling Seating Planners” published in the Miami Herald on September 23, 1999 by Phil Patton that described how some famous baseball stadiums were replacing their old seats with new ones that were two or more inches larger in diameter to accommodate the growing girth of their fans. And the seat size changes weren’t just limited to baseball stadiums – subways, busses, airplanes and movie theaters were all reported to be making similar changes. I also found articles substantiating what my friend and I had noticed at the clothing stores – clothing is becoming “super-sized”. Even the brand name sports clothing manufacturer Nike was reported to have increased the size scale of its women’s apparel line to accommodate a larger body.

We live in a society that holds the slogan “Bigger is Better” close to its heart. Everything from TV’s to meals at restaurants seem to all be growing in size and it is no surprise that so are Americans. The big question in my mind is if what was once considered “fat” is becoming the new “thin” then what will the “new fat” be? Where does it end? Granted, there will be a number of benefits, such as less discrimination against larger people and more comfortable seats at the movies and baseball game, but there will also be some drawbacks, such as an even further decline in the overall health of Americans.

Let’s refuse to apply the mentality that bigger is better to our body weights. It’s time for America to slim down or face some dire consequences.

Other Related Posts and Articles you May Find Interesting: “Will Rising Gas Prices Make Americans Fatter?”, “Fashion Tips for Looking Thinner”, “Weight Loss May Cure Sleep Apnea” and “Health Problems Associated with Being Overweight”.