On March 10 TIME Magazine published a story titled "The Hidden Dangers of ‘Skinny Fat’" I was elated that this issue was written about in such a widely circulated publication because I have been concerned about it ever since seeing the movie "Fed Up" this past summer.
I wrote my own article about the "Skinny Fat" phenomenon back in October in which I conducted an informal survey of students at my school. I asked them the question: "Health experts are now in agreement that which of the following is the leading factor causing obesity: fat or sugar?" Most answered sugar, but 1/4 of those polled answered fat.
I love the video that TIME created explaining how avoiding fat over the years has made us fat. It elucidates the science behind fat and fat storage and whether or not we should still be avoiding it.
Below is the story that I wrote for my school newspaper. Bon appetit!
Are you 'Skinny Fat'?
Do you pile ketchup onto your hamburger, eat your yogurt out of a tube, or wash down every meal with a can of soda? Do you seek foods labeled “low-fat” because you think they’re healthier? Are you skinny-fat?
Over the past decade, we have been force-fed contradictory news headlines advising us on the “right” way to eat: “Eat a Low-Carb and Low-Fat Diet,” “Eat Butter,” “Use Sugar to Enhance Diet.” From all these mixed messages, it’s no wonder we’re confused. This past July, the documentary Fed Up served as a wake up call for Americans, revealing that since the 1970s, the sugar industry has been serving us a super-sized portion of false information− including that sugar is a leading factor in the obesity epidemic.
A study published this past February in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported, “More than one-third of adults and 17% of youth in the United States are obese.” Think about that. In our country, 12.7 million kids in our age group (2-19), and more than twice that amount of adults, are obese.
Here’s another frightening fact. You can be skinny and obese − skinny-fat − and not know it. There are two medical terms for skinny-fat. The first is MONW, which, according to Dr. Mark Hyman, practicing physician and contributor to Fed Up, stands for “metabolically obese normal weight.” The other commonly used term to describe this case is Tofi, or “thin outside, fat inside.” When you consume added sugar, it turns into fat, which is stored all throughout your body − not just in your stomach.
And when they say sugar, they don’t just mean a candy bar. Common foods like tomato sauce, peanut butter, cereal− and possibly the biggest offender, soda − all contain dangerous amounts of sugar, or more than the recommended daily allowance of 6-9 teaspoons. But have you noticed that this allowance isn’t included on the nutrition labels? Surprisingly, there are percentages present for every single ingredient except sugar.
Another misconception is that fat is the main culprit causing obesity, so you should eat foods labeled “low-fat.” However, when you see products in the supermarket marked “low-fat,” it is almost always synonymous with “high sugar”− a larger health issue.
The only real way to know if you are skinny-fat is to get a MRI body scan that displays your personal percentage of body fat. In Fed Up, the brothers of an obese teenage boy were scanned. Although they appeared skinny, they still had an unhealthy amount of body fat, or more than 10-20%.
Given the evidence showing a relationship between a high-sugar diet and poor health, I asked Greeley’s health teacher, Nancy Becerra, if she thought we are doing enough to inform kids about the danger of sugar. She said, “We are definitely not doing enough. If I could have a semester to only teach nutrition, I think it would make a big difference.” We also discussed whether she thought that the eating habits of Greeley students are generally healthy or unhealthy. Ms. Becerra believes they are unhealthy, commenting, “First, kids are eating on the run. Second, they are not eating breakfast, making it harder to focus in class. And finally, kids are not eating enough homemade food.”
With the help of Ms. Becerra, I conducted my own survey to test how informed my fellow Greeley students are when it comes to the harmful effects of sugar. When asked, “Health experts are now in agreement that which of the following is the leading factor causing obesity: fat or sugar?” approximately 75% of students asked selected sugar, but 25% thought it was fat. The fact is, we can all do more to educate ourselves on sugar’s detrimental health effects. If we don’t take action, even more Americans will suffer from heart disease in the near future.
Fed Up challenges its viewers to a 10 day no-sugar challenge. In light of this, I propose a 10-day soda ban in and out of school. What do you say? Are you fed up?
Thanks for reading! If you liked my article, please share it and also comment whether or not you believe that you or a loved one is "Skinny Fat."
More,
Gourmanda
