Hey Jess, I agree with you that obesity is a major risk factor for many deadly health conditions.

However I disagree that body positivity is the problem. Numerous studies have shown that shame is one of the most unhelpful and damaging emotions, that paralyses people and prevents them from making changes that are healthy. Instead it entrenches people in the mindset of "there's something fundamentally wrong with me" and that prevents change.

Body positivity is a reaction against societal shaming of the fat, the disabled, or anyone who isn't considered mainstream "beautiful". As such it has a very good intent behind it because if you heal from shame, you have happier lives and as a result tend to be more healthy. Body positivity also tries to decouple what you look like from how healthy you are. Which is where the idea of "health at every size" comes from. It's less about denying science but more trying to find ways that people of all sizes can maximise their health in the present. Rather than feel as though they need to "wait" for months or years until they "look" thin enough to be considered healthy by society. How can they feel good in themselves NOW and continue to feel good going forward? That's the idea behind it.

Personally I prefer the idea of body neutrality, as body positivity seems more focused on body IMAGE rather than body FEELINGS. Body image has nothing to do with the body's health. So focusing on reflections/numbers on scales/dress sizes/photographs etc is not a metric for health. Instead how you feel inside is the metric for health. How you feel about life is the metric for health. How much energy you have, how much pain you are in etc.