For the 4th time in as many days, obesity has been a part of our local

[ScreamingMeemie]

news. How the rate of obesity is going up in America. How, in studies, people are attributing negative character traits to the obese. How I can figure out my body mass index, and if it is over 25%, I am obese. How the figures for the morbidly obese have risen in the past year. How if a man is shown with an obese woman, he picks up the same negative character traits as the woman. What's on tap for tomorrow, how the obese should be quarantined on fat farms?

Maybe I am paranoid, but I fear this country is fast approaching the day when people will be told they cannot order a cheeseburger at the local fast food restaurant because they are 20 pounds overweight.

I do know obesity is a health issue, but these news reports are taking on all the characteristics of a witch hunt.

[soleft]

1. Go to this sight to feel better

www.bodypositive.com

[Skittles]

2. fat people are easy targets

much safer than, say, Arab Americans.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. True, My father (pleasantly plump) has ranted about this

for years, and now it looks as if his fears are close to coming to fruition.

[Rainbowreflect]

3. My mom told me about a bumper sticker she saw this weekend.

She said it was now her new mantra. She says we should look at the bright side.
"Fat People are Harder to Kidnap."

[InkAddict]

4. Witch hunt psychop

The Admin is actually preparing the "mind" of the economically downturned Middle Class to look on the bright side - as hunger (or lack of snacks - Say bye-bye to in-between meal fries/ice cream/Oreos! - Say hello to hard-boiled egg or soup/PBJ for dinner) increases, the waistlines go down! See the benefit of Whistleass's domestic policies. Ever hear of fresh fruits and veggies in the pantries?

The new "poor" will have svelte bods (but no energy to look for better opportunities) as they use their meager incomes to maintain the hi-priced home heated over the winter and keep the +2 vehicles in gas/repairs rather than eat because "everyone" knows this is just a little temporary adjustment and it's turning around, right?

The "terrorism" against American citizens implicit in those policies is itself enough to push the adrenaline into high gear, and if one doesn't kick off from stress-filled MI or CVA (reduce stress, RUN!!!!), at least they won't point out that malnutrition did 'em in. /sarcasm

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. Excellent Post

:thumbsup:

[Frederic Bastiat]

7. It should be reported every single day

Until people get it. I think all Americans should take courses on nutrition like they do in France - ergo you don't see 300lb Frenchmen and women. If you eat junk and sit on your @ss all day and avoid any form of exercise a heart attack is in your future.

And NO fettucine alfredo is not "eating light".

[mike_c]

8. take a breath....

Obesity really is a serious public health issue. I'm overweight too, so if you're overweight don't take this as criticism, but rather as commiseration. It's unfortunate-- but inevitable I suppose-- that the physical health aspects of obesity are inextricably linked to the emotional issues involved in self image. Would you react the same way to a spate of articles on multiple sclerosis, or Down's syndrome? From a public health perspective, obesity is a preventable syndrome for most people-- not all-- that threatens their long-term well-being. I certainly typify the textbook case-- middle-aged, overweight, much more sedentary than I should be, and with a diet that borders on suicidal for my present state of physical health. In short, a typical American.

Pass the chips, please....

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. I understand your point, and coming from a rotund family where I have

to battle to maintain my weight, in know of the health issues. My problem was with "negative characteristics". As if fat somehow equals stupid, lazy, sloppy. Day after day of the same rant. One would never equate (I hope) MS with lazy or sloppy.

I watch my weight, eat right, and excercise for myself. Not the government or my insurance agency.

You have a good point.

[Starpass]

9. Actually, I think there is more to it in who they are targeting

I remember I would snear to my husband who is a biology teacher about going by housing projects and all these fat slobs; and I would say how they seem to have money to feed their faces constantly, etc. He informed me that what I was looking at was a form of malnutrition. Because of ignorance they were chosing wrong things for themselves and their families; and because of poverty many of them were choosing things that "filled them and their hungry kids up", etc. In a word, I think the "new war on fat people" is also a part of the "hate people in poverty" attacks that have been going on for years now in this country.

[eileen_d]

10. That's a good point.

Obesity can result not from eating too much, but eating the wrong things. And poor people have less choice in food selection.

Also, "fat" is not a sole determiner of a person's health. A person can be fat and still exercise and eat well. But since "fat" is the more visible characteristic, it will be targeted regardless of the root causes.

[spinbaby]

11. Yep, cheap overprocessed food

If you're on a tight budget and you don't know better, you're going to wind up with cheap sugar-laden food devoid of nutrients and it will make you fat. For an eye opener, tour both an upscale grocery and a Wal-Mart Superstore. At both places you can get both good food and bad food, but the upscale grocery has more space devoted to fresh food than the Wal-Mart Superstore and the Wal-Mart Superstore has far more space devoted to boxed cereal, bagged snacks, and junky food. Fat is definitely a class issue in this country.

[soleft]

13. Storing fat cells is also a defence against starvation

WHen people are in stress overload, the body doesn't know if it's from societal problems are a potatoe famine. I look at women who I know are working their asses off at manual labor jobs who are very large, and I wonder if the body is storing fat because it knows these women are under duress.

[marley]

14. People

can make up all the excuses they want but for the majority of cases you get fat when you eat too much and exercise to little. And I have seen alot of middle class and well off people overweight, so I wouldn't buy into the story that the media is trying to attack poor fat people.

[SOS]

15. Remember

that those in power don't give a sh#t if average Americans live or die. Also remember that most "news" stories are really rewritten corporate press releases.
This obesity harping is coming from the health insurance industry.
Obesity recently overtook smoking as America's #1 cause of preventable medical costs. That costs health insurers alot of money.
They couldn't care less about an overweight person. They only care about money. Corporate manufacturers offer refined sugar mixed with Crisco and amusingly refer to this garbage as "food".
Eating the stuff causes everything from knee-relacement to the triple-bypas$.
This is no more than a battle for profits between the insurance and food corporations.
Your health is of no concern to either.