There's great prejudice in the United States related to extra weight. Those of us who carry extra pounds feel it all the time as we shop for clothes, attend social events, and hear lots of advice and ridicule about those extra pounds we carry around. In many ways in American culture, extra weight is a visible disability, a visible display that you are, perhaps, not as healthy as others and that you don't measure up to America's deep value when it comes to body beautiful.
Of course, as with all challenges, those of us who are overweight need to do what we can to get healthier. There's not one person with extra pounds that does not understand this, but we also have to be compassionate to ourselves and others who face this burden because in a large part our extra pounds mirror a personal struggle that we've faced at one time or another in our life. Generally when people are overweight, those extra pounds were added due to a lack of healthy living caused by a significant loss, neglect, societal struggle, prejudice, and lack of access to positive living or healthy food.
So what can we do about this?
First, for those of us with this struggle, we have to continually try to make time to access healthy food, activity, schedules, and health care in our lives.
As members of the community, we have to support healthy recreation, work conditions, family supports, fair salaries, access to health care, and less prejudice in the culture in general. Often extra pounds illustrate too-busy work schedules, less access to healthy food, the need to work extra jobs, lack of good child care support, and general prejudice and care towards your gender, culture, religion, lifestyle, and more.
As voters we can support candidates that support healthy living and laws. For example, Michelle Obama's focus on health at schools made a significant difference in the kinds of snacks students brought to school, the clothes they wore (more play clothes), and the types of lunches. This translated, in my opinion, to greater health overall in the school community. Trump's will to work against those supports takes us backwards, not forward with respect to healthy bodies, and the good living that comes with that.
I always reference the fact that when I was young, girls were not included in school and community sports efforts, and now that the laws have changed, girls are fully included. This has created healthier young women where healthy recreation opportunities exist.
Those of us who wear the extra pounds need to continue to work towards shedding the extra weight in order to be healthier. Everyone can help out by helping our culture to continually embrace healthy foods, activity, attitudes, and opportunities for all. This is an area where we can all do better to enrich lives. Onward.