A Super Bowl advertisement from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement showcased former professional boxer Mike Tyson talking about the danger of obesity and processed food, but it really missed the mark about America’s health issues.
The ad makes a point of using harsh phrasing to describe obese people as “nasty” and “fudgy,” but this approach is not only incredibly disrespectful, but it isn’t even effective in making a change.
Research has shown that teasing people about their weight actually leads to worse health outcomes, such as higher blood pressure and likelihood of skipping meals, according to a November 2025 research article from the journal Social Science & Medicine.
So in other words, fat shaming is not going to make most people actually lose weight, so there really isn’t any justification for this.
This isn’t new information either, we’ve actually known this for quite some time.
The earliest research of the efficacy of fat shaming that I could find was a July 24, 2013 journal article “Perceived Weight Discrimination and Obesity” from the Public Library of Medicine One.
According to the study, which surveyed 6000 people, people who experienced discrimination based on their weight were 2.5 times more likely to become obese, similar to the findings of worse health outcomes in the present data.
The MAHA movement wants to perpetuate this “bro” culture where they make things like lifting weights and eating healthy foods seem “cool” and being obese as “lame” and shameful.
Just two weeks ago, United States Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) posted a video of himself working out with famous musician Kid Rock.
The video tries to make it seem cool to work out and lift weights and I do agree that lifting weights can be fun, but to me it just came off as a little weird, especially considering that Kid Rock is 55 and RFK Jr. is 72.
There are certainly good things about exercising and eating healthy, but these messages are delivered in a very unappealing way. Which is very unlikely to get people to make a change and change is what we want.
It seems counterintuitive to go against what the science actually says about fat shaming, but this is exactly what the MAHA movement does. It goes against the science to spin a narrative.
One clear example of this is the new 2026-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, written by the cronies of RFK Jr.
The new guidelines are only 10 pages compared to the previous 2020-2025’s 164 pages, according to the respective guidelines.
The new guidelines also cite very little scientific evidence to support its claims.
There is something to be said about being short and sweet, but if someone is actually going out of their way to read the dietary guidelines, I’d like to think they’d appreciate a little more explanation on certain unfamiliar topics.
The MAHA movement uses the phrase “real food” both in the new guidelines and the Mike Tyson Super Bowl ad as a way to get people to eat healthy.
But “real food” isn’t really something that can be defined.
Assigning moral value to food as “good” or “bad” is one of the first things I was taught not to do as a nutrition student and somehow this basic concept is something that MAHA does not understand.
The reason why we shouldn’t do this is because, as previously stated, discrimination about people’s weight or the foods people eat has been shown to have a negative impact and it is also something that can lead to disordered eating patterns.
The messaging behind public health matters and this has been shown in the research.
People at a high risk of developing eating disorders experience higher levels of self-body shame if a health message is centered on weight instead of intuitive eating, according to a study published in August 2025 in the journal Health and Well-Being.
Eating disorders aren’t just terrible for mental health, but they can be very dangerous if left unchecked and even lead to death in extreme cases, according to Mayo Clinic.
So instead of calling people who are obese or overweight “nasty” or “fudgy,” we should be positively affirming them.
First of all, they are people. But second of all, it’s not going to help them.
Everyone in life is experiencing different things and you never know why a person could be in the particular situation they are in, whether they’re overweight or not.
Instead of judging, we need to offer help when and where it is needed and asked for. Because everyone is on their own journey and the sooner we understand that the better it will be.
