Following are my thoughts on the recent study that claims to debunk the idea that you can be fat and healthy at the same time.

Just a quick glance at this, because I’m tired of this crap. A recent study called "Joint association of physical activity and body mass index with cardiovascular risk" (Google the title if you want to see it yourself) claimed that "Fat but fit" is a myth.

But they can’t make that interpretation based on what the study actually did.

That higher weight is associated with these risk factors is certainly not new news. Of course fat people have worse health – how could they not considering how poorly they’re treated?

A more likely conclusion from their data is that exercise alone can’t protect you from the effects of fatphobia.

Repeat after me: association does not mean causality. This study did not control for weight stigma and discrimination, dieting history, weight cycling…

I jumped to the last line which really showed how far they are from reporting on data: “However, weight loss per se should remain a primary target…” They didn’t examine anything about weight loss, yet that’s the final advice to leave us with?

But really, whether you can be fat and fit is the wrong question to be asking anyway. Let’s stop situating the problem in fat bodies and look to structural issues, like treating fat people better and making fitness more accessible.