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.