The Burden
Can you imagine that the moment you step foot outside, your shirt clings to you like a second skin, and your eyes sealed shut by the searing sting from your salt-laced, sunscreen-carrying sweat trickling down your brows?
What I just described, was a slightly dramatised and exaggerated account of my personal experience as an overweight man, living in a tropical climate. I know for a fact that I’m not alone in this, as Singapore’s humidity and rising obesity1 is sufficient to prove that this is a common shared experience for many. Overweight and obese people just don’t deal with heat well.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Singaporeans tend to have quite a relationship with food. For example, the Chingay Parade 2025 was themed around the term “Joy”. How is that related to obesity? Well, a large part of the parade was about the unique food and delicacies in Singapore. Just as what this insinuates, a majority of Singaporeans, including me, seeks pleasure from the food we consume.
Therefore, this article posits that elevated body mass intensifies thermal discomfort in tropical climates, creating interconnected physical, emotional and social burdens to the individual.
The Physical Toll
Have you ever wondered why the heavier people tend to perspire more than the average person? It’s actually due to how fat works as a thermal barrier. Subcutaneous fat has a lower thermal conductivity as compared to lean tissues and thus traps more metabolic heat2. That, coupled with Singapore’s high humidity that hinders evaporative cooling on our skins, makes sweating less effective in dissipating heat.
The more I travelled to other countries and experienced different climates, the more I notice that many of these problems are due to Singapore’s climate. Simple daily activities such as walking 10 mins to the MRT or eating hot and spicy foods would make me sweat profusely. Chafing and rashes happens to me more often than I get to change my toothbrush. Yet when I’m in other countries, all these problems doesn’t seem to impact me as much.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Singapore a lot, just not so much the heat.
Emotional & Social Impact
Some benefits of being overweight include: people avoiding the seat next to me on trains since I tend to spill over onto their seat. As nice as it is to have more space to myself, there are way more negatives about being overweight.
Aside from perspiring from doing just about anything, we also frequently receive comments about laziness. Mind you, I used to play basketball competitively in school, so I was very much active. It doesn’t matter how active we are, it’s all about how much food we consume.
One thing that I’m very certain many of my fellow big boys can relate to, is the shirt pull. If you don’t know what it is, it’s something a lot of us did when we were younger to hide our man boobs. Another thing that only fellow plus sized gang may related to, would be the immense feeling of embarrassment at the trail of butt prints left behind on plastic seats, even in the presence of air-conditioning.
All these emotional distress often leads to an avoidance of social events. It’s the fear of being made fun of and sometimes the discomfort of going out, that makes us shy away from social events, especially so when it’s an outdoor event. Sweat stains on shirts under the pits and body odour are just some other factors why overweight people may avoid social events.
How easy is it to cope?
It’s certainly easy to deal with constant sweating. Just bring around a handkerchief! And if you’re worried about the hygiene issues with reusing a handkerchief, a packet of tissue works fine too. Portable fans are just as much a lifesaver in just about anywhere.
Not everything is that simple though. There is an overall limitation when it comes to coping and dealing with being overweight in a climate like Singapore. A lot of emotional labor is involved when we remain in a constant self-conscious state. Even more so when it comes to the mental and physical battle to become healthier.
Being overweight inherently carries numerous challenges, but Singapore’s climate intensifies these burdens in unique ways. The combination of relentless heat and humidity creates a physiological double bind—excess body weight traps metabolic heat, while the tropical environment limits effective cooling.
If nothing else I’ve wrote resonates with you, at least understand this: Weight struggles are not merely about willpower. Biology shapes our responses to food, environmental factors influence daily habits, and mental health impacts both.
For those carrying extra weight and feeling disheartened, I encourage you to start by acknowledging where you are today. Accepting that fact would lay the groundwork for meaningful changes to come. Progress lies in small, intentional steps forward, so let us try and take those steps together!
Zen Yi 