Fat people: Is it just society or is it something else

[Nosauz]

So earlier tonight I was channel surfing and I happened to see something farfetched, a bunch of very heavyset women prancing around on stage. This intrigued me so I checked the channel and it turns out it was a special on Fat people and their "plight" to being accepted.

Now I have no right to judge these people but to me being THAT overweight isn't about whether or not society accepts you or not, it's more about whether or not your going to live to see your fiftieth birthday, because obesity has been already proven to cause atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, liver failure, diabetes, aging, hormone imbalance, and a whole host of other problems. It's true that we shouldn't judge these people because they are overweight but for them to say it's soceities fault for denying their lifestyle is absurd when in fact they are killing themselves. In all honesty I don't care what they choose to do or what they choose to eat, but I just find their incessant nagging and excuses to be a flimsy shield to hide the true problem which is the lack of self control and self destructive tendencies.

So do they have a valid point that society shouldn't judge them? That society should accept fat people and morbidly obese people?

For me I think that is just leading to society's decline, because to say that that lifestyle is a healthy and safe lifestyle is promoting suicide.

PS. I'm well aware of thyroid and pituatary conditions that need to be fixed, but humans are just not meant to be 30%+ body fat. Even if your overweight at least eat properly (consult a doctor and nutritionist) exercise daily (again consult a physician) and sleep well. If you can't lose weight hopefully from your yearly check up's you can find a reason to your condition or actually realize that you have no self control.

[LeoXiao]

Fat people waste food. Nuff said.

[Demongod86]

LMAO.

Anyhow, as someone suffering from this disease genetically (father was a disaster, so I'm 5'4 170-180 depending on the day), it's a b!tch because I don't like looking at myself in the mirror.

[RadiantBeam]

Honestly, and perhaps I'm being cruel, I could care less about fat people and morbidly obese people. They're that way by their own choice or whatever, and it isn't my business to judge them or say anything unless what they do has a direct impact on my life.

[Liddo-kun]

If any fat people are on this thread, sorry if this may seem rude.

Severe fatness is often (not saying always) due to lack of self control.
They enjoyed the food so accept the consequences, such as diseases associated with fatness.

[Vexx]

A combination of terrible diet (corn syrup, processed foods) and inactivity have led to the explosion of obesity and morbid obesity. Fat was very much the exception rather than the rule not more than 30 years ago. Rarely did you see more than 1 or 2 overweight kids in a given classroom. Also, clothing sizes have been steadily rescaled to mask the problem (e.g. wife has gone from size 4 to size 0- without losing a pound over 30 years).

Often, the mega-industries producing the processed "food" have spent decades pushing cooking skills to one side and training consumers that cooking is "hard so buy our product". At times, its difficult for my wife and I to FIND basic food components in Big Box Grocery Store...whereas manufactured products fill the field of view in an aisle.

You can be empathetic to the person while realizing the problem is a disaster for *everyone* because of the cost to society.

[Aimingan12]

I don't tend to be rude but fat people just do what they do, whether it helps them or not I could care less. It doesn't really affect me unless it's me or someone close.

[ac3y]

A lot of people might cry metabolism, but hey, life isn't fair. Some of us have to work harder to learn differential calculus. Some of us have to work harder to score with a girl. And, hate to break it to you, your metabolism might suck, but that's the hand you've been dealt by life. So I guess you're gonna just have to work harder to stay fit.

[synaesthetic]

Oh goodie, a negrep minefield! My favorite kind of thread!

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

Honestly, and perhaps I'm being cruel, I could care less about fat people and morbidly obese people. They're that way by their own choice or whatever, and it isn't my business to judge them or say anything unless what they do has a direct impact on my life.

You're not being cruel. Nobody forced them to do that. They made their choice, they have to face the consequences of said choice.

I don't exercise really, but I do walk almost everywhere I have to go and I control my intake of food. As a result, I'm not overweight. Sure, I'm a few extraneous pounds away from a washboard tummy, but I'm fine with it. If I worked to burn the unsightly five or so pounds on my belly, the rather attractive extra pounds on my hips, butt and face would likewise vanish. I don't dig the rail-thin waif look.

Since I'm not fond of cropped tees in the first place, why bother? ^^; I still look good in a swimsuit.

Originally Posted by Vexx

A combination of terrible diet (corn syrup, processed foods) and inactivity have led to the explosion of obesity and morbid obesity. Fat was very much the exception rather than the rule not more than 30 years ago. Rarely did you see more than 1 or 2 overweight kids in a given classroom. Also, clothing sizes have been steadily rescaled to mask the problem (e.g. wife has gone from size 4 to size 0- without losing a pound over 30 years).

Often, the mega-industries producing the processed "food" have spent decades pushing cooking skills to one side and training consumers that cooking is "hard so buy our product". At times, its difficult for my wife and I to FIND basic food components in Big Box Grocery Store...whereas manufactured products fill the field of view in an aisle.

You can be empathetic to the person while realizing the problem is a disaster for *everyone* because of the cost to society.

I hear you on this one. The high fructose corn syrup mania really needs to go away. Not that HFCS is a bad thing; it has its place... mostly in soda, I've tried sodas sweetened with other sugars and they're just plain awful. Except Thomas Kemper cream soda (sweetened with organic honey... yum).

The problem is further compounded by the fact that healthy, fresh whole foods are often much more expensive than their pseudo-food processed alternatives. The economy is pretty bleak and people are cutting back wherever they can to save money.

Unfortunately, this tends to affect the grocery budget. My own diet hasn't been good at all since I ended up homeless. Nothing but cheap starches and sodium-laden canned vegetables; I'm having to be extremely careful about how much I eat.

I miss fresh vegetables so much.

Originally Posted by ac3y

A lot of people might cry metabolism, but hey, life isn't fair. Some of us have to work harder to learn differential calculus. Some of us have to work harder to score with a girl. And, hate to break it to you, your metabolism might suck, but that's the hand you've been dealt by life. So I guess you're gonna just have to work harder to stay fit.

Agreed. Humans are not created equal. We're all different--some of us are good with numbers, some of us are good with computers, some of us are good artists, good writers... and some of us are better than others at metabolizing food.

Complaining about metabolism is just silly. If your metabolism is lower than average, you have even less of an excuse not to counteract the inevitable "bulge" with additional exercise and careful dietary planning.

[Seitsuki]

It's just a really stupid lifestyle choice I think. Like smoking, or alcohol. It's put on TV, in books, taught in schools how bad it is but people keep it up anyway. Some have valid excuses, such as illness but on programs you hear them being interviewed saying "I just can't help it " or something like that and it's pretty obvious it's their own fault. Things like smoking I don't really care about, but obese people are proven to drain much more money out of the health system (through the various ailments that occur to them as well as having to build new equipment such as extra large ambulances) and it translates as an extra burden to the rest of the society.

[-KarumA-]

My mom is overweight, though if she'd go to Canada then she'd be considered slim or fit

There's a difference between people I hate when it comes to this subject, in some cases it cannot be helped because it is genetic or because of disease, but simply put I wouldn't easily accept a person who complains about being fat while stuffing a third Subway sandwich in his/her mouth. I hate it when people go around and complain about acceptance and their health problems when they do nothing about it, if you're not willing to change then it isn't a wonder that you won't get accepted.

Most people get this due to emotional problems, seeking refuge at food, I'd love to give those people a good kick against that butt cause they are not the only one with problems and should get over it instead of doing nothing about it.

I also blame the food industry for adding so many wrong things in their processed food, I know that it is very rare in some American cities to even get normal vegetables that haven't had any bad things added. Some simply do not have a budget for it either.

But in a country like my own where healthy food is available every where I simply do not understand how people end up getting fat. Children are getting bigger and bigger at a younger age and I simply feel that they and their parents need a slap in the face

[Alchemist007]

I think it's terrible that genetically f***ed fat people have to be ridiculed when its something that actually is out of their control. The ones that do absolutely nothing and that's including managing eating habits, are the ones that I don't think deserve so much sympathy.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

So earlier tonight I was channel surfing and I happened to see something farfetched, a bunch of very heavyset women prancing around on stage. This intrigued me so I checked the channel and it turns out it was a special on Fat people and their "plight" to being accepted.

Now I have no right to judge these people but to me being THAT overweight isn't about whether or not society accepts you or not, it's more about whether or not your going to live to see your fiftieth birthday, because obesity has been already proven to cause atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, liver failure, diabetes, aging, hormone imbalance, and a whole host of other problems. It's true that we shouldn't judge these people because they are overweight but for them to say it's soceities fault for denying their lifestyle is absurd when in fact they are killing themselves. In all honesty I don't care what they choose to do or what they choose to eat, but I just find their incessant nagging and excuses to be a flimsy shield to hide the true problem which is the lack of self control and self destructive tendencies.

So do they have a valid point that society shouldn't judge them? That society should accept fat people and morbidly obese people?

For me I think that is just leading to society's decline, because to say that that lifestyle is a healthy and safe lifestyle is promoting suicide.

PS. I'm well aware of thyroid and pituatary conditions that need to be fixed, but humans are just not meant to be 30%+ body fat. Even if your overweight at least eat properly (consult a doctor and nutritionist) exercise daily (again consult a physician) and sleep well. If you can't lose weight hopefully from your yearly check up's you can find a reason to your condition or actually realize that you have no self control.

This is forever an interesting subject for me as a non-American, especially from Vexx's very informative input in the "Food Thread" thread (which I can't find, so if you remember which thread I'm on about Vexx, please link xD), last year in regards to the entire corn syrup issue which I've noticed he's brought back to light in here as well.

First experiences of knowing that American's love to do everything 'big' and 'better' than the rest, at least on the big note, was when I was in Japan for studying abroad and hung out with some Americans as part of my social circle at the uni.
It was when we went to restaurants did I hear the complaints of
"Man, Japan's food portions are so small"
Me: ... They're normal.

That was clue #1
Clue #2, my first trip to America, me and my fellow brit mate walked onto the plane and kinda did a double take cause most people on the plane were just that little bit 'bigger'.
Then of course, we had to be trapped by a fairly overweight woman who took the aisle seat and had a bad attitude to boot.
It was the start of our learning experience that in America, things and people are a little bit bigger than the world I know, before we even set foot in the country

So it does surprise me when I hear from Americans about their fellow Americans about how fat people are claiming "discrimination" on others and filing law suits.
Or how doctors have to be careful about how they call a fat person else their licence or reputation is at risk.
And now as OP is posting, it has become their 'plight'.

To quote a favourite comedian of mine:
"You ate your way to hate."

Full video can be seen on here entitled:
Anti-fat prejudice has surpassed black prejudice.
In addition, a excerpt from the Mencia video that I did wanna embed the entire thing in here (yay for google grabbing youtube and pulling everything down) -.-
- There is the last minute of it which he made a point that is something I could have never imagined nor do I really think anyone who dare to claim in the UK, as see on here, in regards to handicapped car stickers being given to fat people.
(Note: Mencia's brand of comedy isn't for everyone.
While he does tell the truth without an once of sugar coating, he is crude, harsh, stereotypical and totally cuts the BS. Totally my cup of tea, but I can understand if it's not for ya).

As the OP mentioned, it seems that American society is giving way and amending/adjusting ever more so to accommodating sizes that are unhealthy for most people's statures.
The UK passed a law that placed a ban on junk food adverts aimed at children (usually aired on Saturday morning or after school time) in order to lessen the exposure and influence of it, as an attempt to tackle child obesity.
(I think it went as far as showing none before the 9pm watershed)

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has said that UK children see some 10,000 television adverts a year and recognise 400 brands by the age of 10.

Such a move such as that is kinda a powerful statement when the government curbs the media on behalf of the public. Whether it has helped or not, I don't know, but remembering all the junk food ads I used to know as a kid myself and then sneaking in products while going shopping with my mum, it is a move that I approve of.
So it makes me wonder if the US could ever take a stance like that media wise and try to reverse the continuing disaster of their citizens.

What attempts have there been lately for tackling obesity in the US?

[Mr. DJ]

A friend of mine has been telling me about the B12 shots and hunger suppressants he's been getting, though it's a bit pricey...he's lost almost 30 pounds in the past couple of months with the additional help of going to the gym, removing sodas from the diet and of course eating out less. I'm trying to use him as a inspiration for me, since my plan didn't fall through...

Originally Posted by Nosauz

obesity has been already proven to cause atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, liver failure, diabetes, aging, hormone imbalance, and a whole host of other problems.

I'm proud to say, even though as I am, I've avoided all of those, though aging and hormone imbalance sound really odd to be connected to obesity...

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

Most people get this due to emotional problems, seeking refuge at food, I'd love to give those people a good kick against that butt cause they are not the only one with problems and should get over it instead of doing nothing about it.

If only it was that simple really, because I don't believe it was for me at least...the once source of mine and pretty much everyone's problem, was my mother...she has single handedly destroyed our family with her anger, resentment and jealousy...there's about 20 years of crap I can remember, it's been a long road and I wish I could forget all of it. I've found myself to be better when I was able to distance myself from her, which is something I'm trying to do again after being forced to move back home in 2007.

[Chaho-Chi]

I feels just sad for people who become fat genetically, and instinctively yet try get rid of it by diet programs that don't even work.

[Animelover#1]

well, i'm not obese. i'm just a little overweight. (i'm only 2 stone over average.)

Thing is with me I eat if i'm bored. so that sucks, though recently i'm doing daily excersize and not really dieting but i'm eating less. for some reason i've always been overweight but i've never been obese. I just seem to stay a consistant 2 stone overweight than everyone else. which is wierd O.o

[cheyannew]

Originally Posted by Animelover#1

well, i'm not obese. i'm just a little overweight. (i'm only 2 stone over average.)

Thing is with me I eat if i'm bored. so that sucks, though recently i'm doing daily excersize and not really dieting but i'm eating less. for some reason i've always been overweight but i've never been obese. I just seem to stay a consistant 2 stone overweight than everyone else. which is wierd O.o

Some people're just heavier than others.. it also depend son how you carry it.

For instance, I've always been the heavier of my sister and I. Probably because the girl was still an A cup AFTER having a kid. I actually have boobs.

But either way, I'm a lot of muscle, too. I am over the weight limit (and working on it ) but can also heave around a 60 lb server like it's nothing.

*shrug* I'm trying to lose weight I gained during 6 pregnancies and undoing the damage from those. It'll happen, eventually

[Kyero Fox]

it can be deseases and such but its mostly people who can't control their eating, and have no one else to blame but them self, Not mc Donalds.

[chikorita157]

Besides from genetics, it's actually quite easy to gain weight than keeping it off. This is because foods that taste good (fatty foods like hamburgers, french fries, potato chips, etc) are high in calories/fat/etc opposed to stuff like vegetables/fruits/etc. A average human being only needs about 2000 calories a day minimum to maintain healthy lifestyle. The problem is, healthy foods don't necessarily taste that good, which is the main reason dieting is difficult. Diet programs only work if you eat healthy foods or maintain a balanced diet. Looks easy on paper, but it's tough in practice since you try heard to lose the weight, but gain it back on in a snap.

Another thing is the lack of exercise and movement. The problem today is some people walk less and depend too much on cars just to drive a few blocks down to a library or school for example and instead sit on the couch, watch TV while snacking or lying in bed all day long. The problem is the lack of motivation since exercise can wear a person out than sitting in front of the TV all day. A 30 min walk a day is usually enough exercise for an average person.

Another factor is metabolism. Younger people have higher metabolism, so it's possible for people can burn off the calories and fat alot faster opposed to older people. This is why you see alot of older people having more weight than younger people since they burn calories/fat alot slower.

For myself, I am not fat at all and consume at minimum amount of calories.

[cheyannew]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

Another thing is the lack of exercise and movement. The problem today is some people walk less and depend too much on cars just to drive a few blocks down to a library or school for example and instead sit on the couch, watch TV while snacking or lying in bed all day long. The problem is the lack of motivation since exercise can wear a person out than sitting in front of the TV all day. A 30 min walk a day is usually enough exercise for an average person.

This is quickly becoming an issue with today's youth. There are an unfortunate number of overweight, if not obese children in my kids' schools. Personally, I blame the parents, since children (to a certain point) merely emulate their parents' behaviours, and don't know any better. If their parents urge them to eat massive portions (seriously wtf is with American portions? our dinner plate has like.. doubled... in the last 50 years, wtf??), clean their plate, eat unhealthy, etc, not to mention the fast food, then yes, a child will become obese.
Add this with the general lack of activity and it's a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, between my husband's Japanese metabolism and their activity/eating habits, I do not think my 2 will ever be in danger of this. My daughter enjoys things like Yoga & Pilates, having watched me do them. My son rides his bike on a regular basis, and what not (sometimes he does Yoga lol). They also eat very well, whole grains, veggies and whatnot (despite them not liking them much). We limit fast food to like... once or twice a month, as a treat (as opposed to "ugh I don't feel like cooking, let's hit the drive-through").

I'm working on eating more often, smaller amounts (200 calories each "meal" or so. I'm also upping my activity level from, say, Yoga & a 1 mile walk, to Yoga and a 2 mile walk, plus jump roping (which is great cardio, btw). I have lost 5 lbs in just over 2 weeks, so, if I keep this up, I'll be at my goal weight by October
Considering I gained 60 or so pounds from my last pregnancy, and my age (and it seems obesity runs in the family, thanks genetics), it's an uphill battle sometimes, but I'd rather fight it NOW than when I'm 40+ and it's even harder. My plan of running after my great-grandchildren won't work out so well if I can't run, or worse, am not even around.