What is a Fat Girl?

What is a fat girl? A fat girl is the vernacular for an overweight or obese female. In the United States, she is your sister, mother, girl friend, aunt, best friend, or stepmother. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that 66%, or two-thirds, of the adult population aged 20 and over is overweight or obese. Of those who are actually obese (one-third of the population), women are the majority at 35 million.

A definition for the condition comes from The Center For Disease Control and Prevention: "Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height. The terms also identify ranges of weight that have been shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems."

These problems range from chronic diseases, osteoporosis, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and to even some types of cancer. The CDC also reports that the average woman weighed 140.2lbs in 1960, but by 2002 the weight had risen to 164.3lbs.

Why women? Researchers don't claim to have all the answers, but they do have some. The American Heart Association reports that while one drink a day for a woman has no negative effects, excessive and binge drinking leads to obesity, cancer, and high triglyceride levels.

Sometimes weight gain begins early. Assistant Professor Kristen Davison of the University of New York, Albany has reported that adolescent girls lose interest in activity more quickly than their male peers. She adds that exercise, even just walking, needs to be parent-supported and encouraged.

Jennifer Wider, M.D., from the Society for Women's Health Research, states that adolescent weight issues lead to health problems as an adult. Even later, as adult females, women experience reproductive hormone fluctuations during pregnancy and menopause, which can possibly lead to weight gain.