Why do Americans praise fat people that lose weight?

[mysticwolf]

Because if you aren't struggling with your weight/health, then you don't have to overcome it. Being healthy may just come naturally. You don't really deserve praise for your own nature.

Whereas if you are struggling with your health and weight, you have to constantly be aware of what you are doing and eating, etc. Losing a significant amount of weight is not exactly easy, so when people do it they deserve praise.

For some people, eating healthy and exercising regularly is not all that difficult, so it does not really merit attention the way significant weight loss does.

The deal is that self-improvement is what is praised. If you have always been healthy, you haven't really improved so to speak, so you don't get praised.

I see the point you are making, that these people that have always been healthy ought to deserve praise/attention. I would say that they do, in a sense, because the unhealthy people strive to be more like the healthy people, like role models. That's praise enough in my book.