There’s a story making the rounds on “plus-sized athletes” reacting to the US “Let’s Move” campaign.
The fitness community has embraced the first lady’s ‘Let’s Move’ program, but many health experts balk at equating improving health with lowering weight.
Fat aerobics instructor Sandy Shaffer and physical trainer GeMar Neloms are interviewed. Dr Kenneth Cooper, a longtime supporter of measuring fitness independent of body weight, comments. All suggest that body size is a poor measure of health. One bit of wording I found curious was “a robust body need not mean poor health”. Robust is an adjective meaning:
- (of a person, animal, or plant) Strong and healthy; vigorous.
- (of an object) Sturdy in construction.
What does it say that “strong and healthy; vigorous” or even “sturdy” is assumed to mean poor health?
The Age in Australia went a step further and paired the story with a photo of plus-size women (with heads) doing aerobics.