Does Overweight Automatically Mean Unhealthy?

By: The Fabulous Mariah HuQ

Gabby Sidibie is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. She may not be what America defines as beautiful, but for me her confidence, smile and attitude makes her amazing.. As much as I love Gabourey I must admit, that I too question whether her current weight is healthy or not.

Over the past few weeks the media has unleashed a vicious attack on her about her weight and the most recent and outlandish outburst was by Howard Stern saying " Gabourey is enormous and will never work again." As a young black woman gabby is unlike most of hollywood, she is confounding the status quo, but to me she is alot like what we see in the Black community. Young black, smart and beautiful but noticeably overweight. So, my question is should we be concerned? Does a person being overweight automatically mean they are unhealthy?

  Well according to the (NAAFA) {Yes its a real group} It's the National Association to Advance fat Acceptance, being overweight doesn't necessarily mean unhealthy nor does thin equal healthy. This is definitely true, but as a former medical sales rep, selling into the cardiovascular marketplace I can tell you that there are a plethora of risk associated with many diseases.  Whether it's Diabetes, Heart disease or high cholesterol being Overweight ususally is at the top of the risk-list. Any doctor will tell you that you almost double your risk for health complications just by being over weight. So, with that being said I think that we should be concerned. Especially, when we notice that obesity is starting at a younger age throughout many communites. As a minority Gabby should be evenmore concerned as well any other black females because of the following Facts:

• African American women have higher rates of obesity than women of other races
• Black people were 50% less likely to engage in exercise than White people in 2007
• People that are overweight are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure and other risk factors of heart disease (which is the #1 leading cause of death for African American women).
• Discussions of selection aside, people in better health are more likely to get married (there is a ton of research to back this up)
• Your weight is an indicator of your general health
• Black women are more likely to be considered overweight and obese (and yes, these are very different from thick)
• Black women are less likely to get married than women of other races (yes, yes I know, we’ve been beaten over the head with this all year)

Collectively we need to lose weight.  I’m not saying try to become a size 2, I’m saying be healthy. If you’re already fit, great.  Now go out and help your mom, your sister or your best friend get in shape too.  Losing weight and eating healthy are not easy, but they are definitely feasible.  With some motivation, discipline and support, we can do it.

This post is not about bashing “big girls” or hurting their self esteem. I too struggle with weight, and find myself constantly working to stay fit.  This post is a plea for us to stop encouraging each other  to stay large. There is a difference in being "thick" and "overweight"!  I get why we say “big girls rule” and other affirmations.  And I think it’s great that we encourage people to feel good about themselves no matter the size, but we have got to stop making excuses for our size and realize being big can have even BIGGER CONSEQUENCES!