The Body Positivity Movement and Social Attitudes

Illustration of obesity and waist circumference. From left to right, as labeled in the original image, the “healthy” man has a 33 inch (84 cm) waist, the “overweight” man a 45 inch (114 cm) waist, and the “obese” man a 60 inch (152cm) waist. The graphic is based on information from Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2000).

You have seen a supermodel who is obese on the cover of Cosmos. That was Tess Holliday. She is morbidly obese, and a role model to others with severe obesity. She is a leader in the body positivity movement that claims we all can be beautiful, and healthy, at any size. To be brutal, she might be. There is a small percentage of overweight and obese people who are metabolically normal, for the moment.