An article by Huffington Post reporter and podcast host Michael Hobbes is striking a chord with readers around the world; addressing the science of obesity and the ongoing mistreatment of overweight people.
Citing the impact that his mother's weight had on his childhood, Hobbes spent 18 months working on the feature-length article, titled 'Everything you know about obesity is wrong', which is now drumming up support across social media.
In the piece, Hobbes argues that the stigma of being overweight is more harmful than being overweight itself, sharing that his sources regularly broke down in tears during their discussions and anxiously requested anonymity.
"I have never written a story where so many of my sources cried during interviews," he writes, "double - and triple - checked that I would not reveal their names, shook with anger describing their interactions with doctors and strangers and their own families."
Hobbes also points out that even as the number of overweight Americans continues to rise, “the biases against them have become more severe. More than 40 percent of Americans classified as obese now say they experience stigma on a daily basis, a rate far higher than any other minority group.”
"The central failure of the medical system when it comes to obesity is that it treats every patient exactly the same," he writes.
"If you’re fat, lose some weight. If you’re skinny, keep up the good work."
While countless social media users have expressed the importance of the article, others have shared their reservations.
"I have a lot of thoughts about this fat feature, starting with the fact that it restates information fat women have been telling you for years," wrote S.E. Smith on twitter.
"You need a thin dude to humanise fat people before you care about these issues? Okay."
