Just because you can’t shoot-up with cheeseburgers, doesn’t mean they’re harmless.

Maria Kang recently caused a stir after she posted a picture of herself and three young children, which showed off her toned body with a caption that reads, “What’s your excuse?” The picture was meant to inspire fitness despite the busyness of life, but Kang has since been accused of bullying, neglecting her kids and fat shaming.

It should be socially acceptable to encourage fitness, especially when obesity is such a pervading characteristic of our society.

Last week Kang spoke with TODAY in defense of the picture. “I’m a real mom…I just make [fitness] a priority,” she said. On her Facebook page, Kang also claims that she has struggled with weight issues and has never had a nanny.

There is always time to be healthy, but our society likes to make excuses because it’s lazy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 35.7 percent of adults are obese.

It’s not a secret that obesity is a huge problem, but it’s a sensitive topic to discuss. This needs to change, obesity has substantially increased in the last 20 years, according to the Rand Corporation, a non-profit global policy think tank.

Just like alcohol and cigarettes, food can be addictive and has the potential for abuse. The social stigma of obesity causes shame for an individual that results in denial when confronted, much like a drug addict, as seen in the backlash of Kang’s photo. In response to all the negative attention Kang said, “What you interpret is not my fault. It’s yours.”

Obesity, or any eating disorder, is the result of an addiction. While both drug addicts and obese people carry the weight of a social stigma, they don’t share the same stereotypes.  But just like it is perfectly okay to tell a meth addict to go to rehab, it should be just as acceptable to tell an obese person to go on a diet because both are hurting themselves physically and mentally.

According to the CDC, obesity is associated with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, sleep apnea and mental health diseases. A report from Doctors Roland Sturm, a senior economist at the Rand Corporation, and Kenneth B. Wells, a senior scientist at RAND,  found that obesity is also linked to high rates of chronic illness, more so than living in poverty, smoking or drinking.

All have documented health risks, but drug abuse is easier to talk about because of the perception associated with that kind of addiction. Moreover, obesity is costing America; in 2008 overall medical care costs related to obesity were $147 billion, according to the CDC.

There needs to be increased awareness of the consequences of not valuing health. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Above the Influence campaigns are effective means of reducing teen drug use.

Another way to improve awareness and even spark motivation is to utilize social media sites. Since society is so impacted by social media, increasing inspirational messages through ads and personal pictures can promote health. For every fast food ad there should be at least one more promoting a healthy diet.

Importantly, Kang intended to inspire a healthy lifestyle, not promote society’s very unhealthy standard of an ideal body. Every person has a unique build and a unique version of healthy. A healthy body weight is always attainable given a smart lifestyle, and that’s what needs to be promoted. There are external factors that can cause people to gain weight, but society needs to focus on encouraging individual responsibility and getting active instead of being fat and miserable.

There should be more messages like Kang’s that motivate people to get healthy. At the very least there shouldn’t be an attack on someone that is trying to promote health, especially with the overall shape our society is in today.

-Alyssa Reynolds is a senior communication major from Ferndale. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this Column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.