Is obesity 'normal,' accepted?

The fall TV season is upon us. We've seen the commercials for them for a month already. And one of the biggest, so to speak, in the line-up is "Mike & Molly," a sitcom from the creator of the funny and popular "The Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men" shows.

Given the success of those shows, "Mike & Molly" is almost guaranteed to draw a major audience.

The series follows two overweight people: Mike Biggs, a police officer who wants to shed some pounds, and Molly Flynn, a fourth-grade teacher who wants to embrace her curves.

They meet at an Overeaters Anonymous group and become an item. The CBS website says, "Get ready for a whole lotta love."

Reflection of the times

Featuring overweight and obese people in TV shows is a trend these days. We all know about "The Biggest Loser" reality show, but then there's Style network's "Ruby" and "Too Fat for 15," Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" and ABC Family's "Huge."

Am I forgetting any?

Granted, the rotund have had a place in TV history.

Jackie Gleason was perhaps the first famous fat TV star. Then there was William Conrad and John Goodman, who paired with an also portly Roseanne Barr in "Roseanne."

But those shows predated the spike in the obesity epidemic in the past decade, which, in turn, probably spawned the unprecedented number of shows that now feature obesity as a main theme.

The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, which describes itself as a "nonprofit civil-rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the obese," recently highlighted the string of new shows as a sign that overweight people are finally getting their due representation.

NAAFA, by the way, recently held it first "Health at Every Size Summit" that brought in health professionals to commiserate on the notion that health and fitness has nothing to do with body size.

They also featured Dr. Glenn Gaesser, author of "Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health," who dismissed "myths about the obesity epidemic" and addressed the biases behind views of obesity.

American landscape

Where are we headed with all this?

For a few years, I've wondered if one-quarter to one-third of our population stays obese or overweight long enough, then maybe the shock value of it will be dulled.

We'll just get used to it. It will just be a part of the human landscape.

In fact, kids may just become fat-blind, which may be what the NAAFA wants.

And while we've made strides in acceptance of others based on race and religion, should we just accept that there's a segment of our population that will be obese?

From standpoints of health and economics, the answer should be no.

A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Research Triangle Institute estimated that costs attributable to obesity were as high as $147 billion in 2008, up from $78.5 billion in 1998.

Big is beautiful!

Locals who are on the front lines of the epidemic fear the idea of making obesity normal and accepted.

Dr. Thaddeus Bell, a family-practice physician in Charleston and founder of the organization Closing the Gap in Health Care, says the normalization, even celebration, of obesity in the African-American community has been a problem for years. It's a problem especially for the women.

"African-American women, you will see them acting like they are proud to be obese. They think that being big is part of the African-American culture, but it's never been a part of the African-American culture. That is bad information."

And he places part of the blame on popular culture and celebrities, such as Mo'Nique, the comic and actress who starred in "Phat Girlz" and wrote "Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small-Minded World" and the "Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted" cookbook.

Bell says some celebrities send the wrong message because "obesity has a role in every disease that kills African-Americans."

Louis Yuhasz, founder of locally based childhood obesity nonprofit Louie's Kids, says some of the youths in his programs are "obsessed" with TV shows such as "The Biggest Loser" and that he worries about the effect on them and worried that the entertainment industry seems poised to cash in on that.

He noted a recent commercial on "Too Fat for 15" for chocolate-covered granola bars, which often are veiled as health food but are high in calories and fat.

"They (the industry) know who is sitting in front of the TV set and how to play to them," says Yuhasz, adding, "It will be interesting to see what ads are played for 'Mike & Molly.' "

Reach David Quick at dquick@postandcourier.com or 937-5516. See his Running Charleston blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/running_blog

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