Redefine: Thick vs. Fat

First Lady Michelle Obama has made it her mission to tackle childhood obesity. While I commend Michelle for targeting this national epidemic, one of the questions that come to my mind is "what about adult obesity?"


People in the United States continue to get larger ever generation. A new study commissioned by the University of Sydney found that Generation X, those born between 1965-1976, will be the first group of people to die before their parents because of poor health.

African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five, 90%, of African American women are overweight or obese.

Pop culture views on body image tell girls that they need to be skinny. How many times have you watched a television show were a slender, blonde haired girl is complaining about be “fat”. I am not saying that this is the image that African American women need to aspire to, but we need to get away from the other end of the spectrum.

Too often I see over-weight females talking about how “thick” they are. Phrases like “thicka then a snicka” and “bootylicious” are thrown around. There's a thin line between thick and fat in the black community. It time to redefine that line! Ain’t nothing wrong with being thick, but we have to be fit as well!