Diabetics and Obesity/The War On Childhood Obesity As An UnCivil War
The popular narrative of
“Obesity leads to conditions such as
Heart disease and type 2 diabetes”
Has been thrust down my throat by
All parties since I was a zygote, probably
Before conception.
While it’s true, it’s also
A half truth. The way so many things are—
The war on childhood obesity
Has been lost, folks
And in its wreckage
Are contemptuous, angry, dismissive fatphobes
Many of them fat themselves.
I’ve been approached by strangers
My whole life, checking in on me
Asking for diabetes supplies if I have extra
Asking how my heart is—
It’s broken, by the way
Not because of disease but because of
Society.
I don’t have type 2 diabetes and I never have
I wasn’t pre-diabetic
But they put me on metformin for years anyway
Just in case, I guess ?!
I don’t have any of the stereotypical problems
Of the fat narrative —
I have always had Cushing’s syndrome
Which most people
Instead of acknowledging my reality
Will— joke about, dismiss
Or say doesn’t exist.
All while accusing me and checking me for
Diseases I do not have.
What kind of paradox is this?
What kind of rock and what kind of hard place—
When you’re fat
It never matters what the cause is
The trauma you get will have
The same name, the same shape
And all of those who
Never experience it will gladly say
They “knew it was coming”
No matter what comes your way
Even if it’s back surgery
Or a car accident
They’ll blame it on your weight.
The war on childhood obesity
Follows you into teenage, and young adulthood
All the way to the HR person who knows
You are a losing candidate.
The war on childhood obesity is a civil war,
On home turf
And nobody wins, it only makes
Fat adults willing to hide, isolate
Kill everyone, or themselves
All of the above are approved actions
In the fat narrative.