re: #344 GunstarGreen

It is very true that it is entirely possible to be thin and drastically unhealthy (alcoholism, drug abuse, anorexia), and that it is entirely possible to be obese and be relatively healthy compared to some thin people. But I believe that there is far too much being done to make being overweight ‘acceptable’ despite the serious health risks that obesity poses by its very nature. There is a lot of abuse going on — abusing the notion that picking at flaws in a person is wrong, I mean — to excuse living an unhealthy lifestyle in the quest to not harm anyone’s feelings.

To wit: There are a lot of very overweight people out there that could be doing something about it. But they set their minds firmly in the camp of “it’s wrong for other people to judge me based on my weight, so I won’t do anything to change it”.

I’m not saying that obesity is a singular cause to rally against. Given an obese person that was also an alcoholic or addicted to some hard drugs, I would certainly advising fixing their substance problem before worrying about their weight. But once that’s handled, the incidences of a person being very overweight are, by and large in the vast majority, the results of that person’s choices and actions rather than ‘genetics’ or any of the myriad other reasons that people use to excuse it.

I guess I see extreme obesity and “overweight” as being two different things. There are plenty of “sturdy women” who come from long lines of “sturdy women” who are perfectly healthy and active. Same for me. The beer belly, red face scenario that was the original example is (IMHO) a sign of bad health —but the man’s weight is a symptom, not the only factor.

Shaming the person for their weight will not help —only reinforce negative emotions they are mostly likely already feeling.

I tend to advise a full physical to rule-out diabetes, thyroid, depression, etc.

I have big problems with people who think negative peer pressure will help anyone.