By: Bryan Li

Recently, Tik-Tok star Remi Bader was not allowed to ride a horse at Deep Hollow Ranch because she weighed more than 240 pounds. An employee laughed at her and posted a video online saying, “When you’re not a fat b—-, you can ride at Deep Hollow Ranch.”

Many Americans today deal with obesity. Being obese means that your body mass index, or BMI, is 30 or higher, and according to the CDC, around 41.9% of adult Americans and 20% of children are considered obese.

Many adult Americans have experienced teasing because of their weight, and the mocking only makes things worse. According to Dr. Hasan Merali, a health specialist at McMaster University, when you are discriminated based on weight, you become more likely to gain more weight. There are many other side effects including anxiety, depression, and stress.

Often, these fat-shaming occurrences stop obese people from attempting exercise. According to a Swiss and German study published last year that interviewed 30 obese adults, and the reasons range from prior negative experiences with exercise to fear being made fun of again for their weight.

As Bader explained, she wanted to make this incident known because of “the way I was spoken [to] and laughed at … and the way I was treated overall.” The ranch later made an apology and took the video of the employee down. The owners stated that the video “in no way represents nor is aligned with” their ideas and thoughts.