Isn't it about time?

There's a lot of discussion going on about being overweight or fat, or "obese" which is a most horrid word, and should never be used when describing people!

But it seems to me if we want things to change for the better, and that means for size acceptance to take place, then each of us has to stand up for what we believe in - ourselves, and do something about it.

Why do I say this? Because nothing much has changed over recent years to have made a great difference to how we are “seen” by society as a whole.

Yes, I’ll be the first to admit that there have been some small changes, but when it comes to those changes benefiting the plus-size person, then you’ve got to look pretty hard at the whole picture to see what has occurred. Someone said to me the other day, well Rome wasn’t built in a day. That’s obvious. But getting society to change it’s attitude on size is taking far too long, because with every forward step we make, society (and I include the media, fashion industry and the medical profession, and now the government) punches us fair and square in the face and tells us, “no, you’re never going to be accepted, so stop bothering us”.

The latest news is condescending and concentrates on WLS; the the promise (or is it really a threat?) that the government is being lobbied (by who I don’t quite know) to subsidise WLS for “obese” patients. The inference is - obese people have to have it whether they want it or not!  Or whether it is safe for them to have, or not.

For WLS has to be done for the right reason, and this includes being of benefit for the person involved. This is a matter for any plus size person to discuss with their own personal doctor.

It requires a lot of research, it requires a lot of discussion and it requires a lot of questions and answers, for a patient to get to the stage of agreeing to it.

What you don't hear, or see, are the negative stories about people whose lives have been ruined, both physically as well as emotionally, by unsuccessful WLS or stomach banding. Of course there are success stories, and I applaud those who have successfully gone through these procedures and are living healthy and happy lives. But it’s when I see for myself the scars of patients even years after the surgery and hear how people can’t even nibble a biscuit without feeling bloated and nausea, that alarm bells start ringing. Too many so-called "successful" WLS results are soon negated for the simple reason that the person undergoes a reversal! (If they're healthy enough, that is!) For let’s be honest here, not every patient is suitable for this type of surgery in the first place. There may be other health issues at risk.

Celebrities such as Les Twentyman,a youth worker well known for his charity work here in Victoria (Australia) and the 2006 Victorian of the Year, two years ago battled for his life in an induced coma after suffering a poisonous infection. He was undergoing lap band surgery at the Alfred hospital when surgeons noticed he had an unrelated double hernia, which had burst. While recovering from the surgery Les’ condition deteriorated dramatically and he underwent corrective surgery for the hernia, but had to be placed in the coma to stabilise his condition. He was in a critical but stable condition in the Alfred's intensive care unit.  This is not to say that he was in this condition because of the WLS, but it goes to show that things can go wrong, and often awfully wrong.

But for a Government to actually think about subtly insisting that obese people should undergo such surgery because they’re an unaffordable “drain” on the economy as they presently are ("fat"!) (they’re not so silly as to say it outright) and that these surgeries may be subsidised in the future, smacks of hypocrisy.

In a world where plus-size people are ostracised, ridiculed, ignored and shunted around like no-bodies, this is just too much. We need healthier options, we need positive options, we need a lot more research into the fields of why we are getting fatter (and don’t even suggest it’s because we’re eating too much or the wrong food, because I and thousands of others will scream!) We’ve been told this for too long now, and it’s not true. Otherwise why, just tell me why, we have small babies who are overweight? Are they eating Big Macs? Are they eating Domino pizzas every meal? Are they drinking fizzy drinks and eating sweets, non-stop? And why are children becoming more allergic to foods these days - why have the numbers increased not only in peanut intolerance, but intolerance for almost every thing imaginable. Surely the so-called experts are looking in the wrong direction. Why doesn’t someone, somewhere look into what is IN the food, not just at the food itself?

It’s not often I get up on my soapbox and stamp my feet. It’s not us, those of us who are told we are overweight and who are out of control, it’s society and governments and the unacceptable attitudes by people and organisations that could be doing more to help the situation than to make it worse.

And making it worse only puts us behind the eight-ball. We’re sick and tired of being told we’re fat and therefore we get what we deserve. We don’t deserve all this nonsense. We deserve to be respected as much as the next person.

I don’t know about you, but if we are serious about getting our views and beliefs heard and published, then as I said at the beginning of this tirade, we have to do something ourselves.