Is being fat a disability??

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

Being obese or morbidly obese most definitely can be a disability because it often interferes with normal activity, even with no underlying health problems. Whether it is subject to FMLA is dependent on other factors. In some cases, yes, and in other cases, no. That's a matter that is determined by those whose job it is to make distinctions. It isn't my job, and I'm guessing that it isn't the OP's job, either. Yes, some obese people are more than capable of performing job functions, but some aren't. It isn't for me to determine if it's a disability or not because I don't work in that field or see the specific case file. As for OP's coworker with the lap band, my guess is her distaste for her as a person leads to her being overly judgmental of the woman. OP doesn't like her, so she's looking for more reasons to justify the dislike. It shows a distinct character flaw, and a disappointing one at that.

Judging what other people purchase at a grocery store is lame. Eating only clean foods or lean meat and veggies is whoever's prerogative, but I don't walk around the grocery store judging those sorts of people for thinking they're better than the rest of us who like to bring home frozen pizzas and pop tarts.

There are plenty of thin people out there gaming the system when it comes to FMLA, SSD and SSI. I'd be willing to bet that if you look at the statistics on it, people gaming the system would look just like the overall population with respect to the percentages of obese versus normal weight.

^ I like you:)

UsedToBeHusky

I am normally not one to play the “shame” card but the b!#@#ing about the electric carts at the store in pissing me off….I have a parent who is actually disabled (9 back surgeries) and she can barely walk. Between the drugs and the inactivity she has nearly zero quality of life and all the judgment heaped on those damn carts is why she won’t use them, that doesn’t mean she walks it means she gets out less and less and the isolation as some might be able to understand only heightens the depression.

A few years ago, I blew the ACL and PCL in my knee. I was in a stabilizing brace for a month, and then wore a different brace and walked with a limp for six months. My boyfriend at the time used to ***** at me for refusing to use the carts. There is a serious stigma around them that should just not be there.

srslybritt

Okay, the OP said "fat." Was she talking "tubby" or was she talking "obese"? She never (that I saw anyway) clarified her position on what "fat" entails. So I guess clarity is needed here.

Edited because hands got ahead of herpy derpy brain.

Mikkimeow

As for me, personally, OP... I think this post, and your question to your boss in such a public manner, was in poor taste. I think you're failing to take into consideration that not every "fat" person, as you call them, is going to need assistance. Not every "fat" person plays the victim. In fact a lot of them do pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get 'er done. And that's freaking awesome.

But I pose you this question: Have you ever been so depressed that the idea of moving a muscle aside from breathing is exhausting? The idea of having to look at your loved ones in the face and interact with them instills terror in you? Have you ever not wanted to get out of bed because the idea of facing a day is so unfathomably difficult that it would be infinitely easier to build yourself a blanket cave and never come out? And at the same time, believe that absolutely nobody in the world would miss you?

I have. It's not a fun place to be. Don't judge other peoples' disabilities or gauge their capabilities based off of your healthy mind. That does you and them a disservice. Try to have a little empathy, it will go a long way.

Good job. :flowerforyou:

srslybritt

To whomever posted "Society doesn't force junk food down your throat." You SO miss the point. Society doesn't force you to be an A-hole, either but hey, guess it happens.

I like you.

srslybritt

As for me, personally, OP... I think this post, and your question to your boss in such a public manner, was in poor taste. I think you're failing to take into consideration that not every "fat" person, as you call them, is going to need assistance. Not every "fat" person plays the victim. In fact a lot of them do pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get 'er done. And that's freaking awesome.

But I pose you this question: Have you ever been so depressed that the idea of moving a muscle aside from breathing is exhausting? The idea of having to look at your loved ones in the face and interact with them instills terror in you? Have you ever not wanted to get out of bed because the idea of facing a day is so unfathomably difficult that it would be infinitely easier to build yourself a blanket cave and never come out? And at the same time, believe that absolutely nobody in the world would miss you?

I have. It's not a fun place to be. Don't judge other peoples' disabilities or gauge their capabilities based off of your healthy mind. That does you and them a disservice. Try to have a little empathy, it will go a long way.

Good job. :flowerforyou:

Thanks, boothang. :embarassed:

Monkey_Business

I think my post was totally misconstrued...if you remember, I was referencing FMLA....my point was should you be able to take FMLA or receive a check because of being overweight....I still stand behind my opinion. If you are clinically depressed...then depression is your medical disablility not being overweight, if you have thyroid issues, thats your medical condition not being overweight....if you have no other issue except you dont move and overeat...you have no disability and you can change your circumstances...

as for the person next to me....I have worked with them for 14 yrs and yes I know their story including the fact that they had to see someone before they got the lapband to make sure they had no clinical issues such as depression before the dr would do the surgery....

Well as a manager I think you answered your own question. The request for FMLA has to be completed by a Qualified doctor. If in the doctor's envaluation, the employee is disabled to the point that they need FMLA, the employee cannot be denied the request no matter what anyone's 'opinion' is. The purpose of FMLA is to give a person a chance to recover or if needed reasonable accommidations from a condition and allow them back into the work environment.

So no matter what anyone's opinion is, most of us are not qualified to make those decisions as far as FMLA is concerned.

jnichel

I am normally not one to play the “shame” card but the b!#@#ing about the electric carts at the store in pissing me off….I have a parent who is actually disabled (9 back surgeries) and she can barely walk. Between the drugs and the inactivity she has nearly zero quality of life and all the judgment heaped on those damn carts is why she won’t use them, that doesn’t mean she walks it means she gets out less and less and the isolation as some might be able to understand only heightens the depression.

This is why people like my neighbor p**s me off so much. She uses those carts when she doesn't need to. She parks in handicap spots when she doesn't have to. She's fat and lazy, not because of an underlying medical condition, but because she's a sack of s**t. Because of her poor lifestyle choices, people who have an actual need for these things sometimes go without; get judged by society. We can sit here and pretend that we don't do this, but the truth is, a vast majority of us judge others on appearance, and it's not just because a person is fat, or in a scooter. We do this because enough bad apples have poisoned the whole batch. I know I've seen a few people walk the other way or cross the street when they see me, and that's because some people who grow their hair like I do, or have tattoos like I do, have been a**holes.

rowlandsw

Nope they won't let me claim fat on my ssi review so it isn't a disability.

likitisplit

ETA: I will argue that being obese is indeed a disability. Have you ever seen an obese person walk, clap their hands, or tie ther shoelaces? It's nto exatly easy for them. You would go so far to say that their movement is limited, not unlike a disability.

Being fat is not a disability. That being said, most people are only considered fat by society when, in fact, they are actually obese.

As someone who is morbidly obese by any chart (239 @5'4") I'll argue that it is not a disability to the extent people claim it is. I started taking MMA classes at 260. Yes my movement is a bit limited, mainly on front snap and ax kicks because my fat thigh is hitting my fat gut on the upswing, but I can still do a spinning back kick to someone's chest without blinking. I do these insane punching and kicking drills for a solid half hour every class that has everyone in the class literally dripping sweat all over the place. Meanwhile I see people my size at Walmart in the freaking power scooter, and I want to kick it out from under them and tell them to use their damn feet already. If they have trouble just clapping, it's because they've laid around so much that their muscles have degenerated, not because they're fat.

I agree with this. Again and again on these boards, I see a lot of people use their pounds as a reason to avoid life and it makes me sad any time I see that. I've had arguments with people who are lighter than I was when I started to run about whether running at their weight was dangerous. It's not. I've seen at least one woman run a 5k at just under 250. Fat does not necessarily mean unfit. By itself, it's not a good excuse.

That being said, the people on the scooters may have gotten fat because they have an underlying health condition that makes movement difficult. Probably not all of them, but I don't want to be judgey about the one who broke her hip because her ex-husband knocked her to the floor, you know.

wheird

dis·a·bil·i·ty
/ˌdisəˈbilitē/

noun

noun: disability; plural noun: disabilities

a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

However, being OBESE or MORBIDLY OBESE does.

Im Obese and I can jog..So I disagree

Morbidly obese and can jog. And jump up onto 6' walls. And work as hard as anyone else.

/shrug

So you weigh 350+ lbs and can jump up onto 6' walls?

325+ with a BMI of around 43ish. And yes, yes I can.

helenarriaza

Fat is the bridge to actual disability problems (blood clots, high blood pressure, diabetes, joint pain, inability to walk/breathe, etc). There is people working without limbs or moving only a part of their body and you are requesting medical leaves and special benefits because you are shoving pizza down your throat? Nope. No excuses.

I am 259 pounds and 24 years old, I have caused this to myself and I am accepting it. I am trying to change it. As to depression, I'm there and I am doing my best to overcome it.

How are you going about overcoming your depression?

I have attempted suicide several times and I have encountered several problems due to self harm, so after the last suicide attempt I am going to a psychiatrist specialized in Suicide and Self harm (paying for Q700 an hour visits on my own since my family is not backing me up) taking Lamotrigine and Risperidone and really, having my partner at my side, walking with our fitbits, traveling, doing new things.

RUNNING_AMOK_1958

When I see a fat person on a mobility scooter I always ask myself the following question. "Are they fat because they have a disease or injury, or do they have a disease or injury because they are fat?"

likitisplit

I think my post was totally misconstrued...if you remember, I was referencing FMLA....my point was should you be able to take FMLA or receive a check because of being overweight....I still stand behind my opinion. If you are clinically depressed...then depression is your medical disablility not being overweight, if you have thyroid issues, thats your medical condition not being overweight....if you have no other issue except you dont move and overeat...you have no disability and you can change your circumstances...

as for the person next to me....I have worked with them for 14 yrs and yes I know their story including the fact that they had to see someone before they got the lapband to make sure they had no clinical issues such as depression before the dr would do the surgery....

I think that it was construed properly. I'm not sure anybody has yet addressed the passive aggressive behavior toward your co-worker...

fhunter91

I think one of the biggest problems with obesity is that most people see it as a personal issue and not a societal one.

I remember volunteering at a food bank in a very poor county in Georgia. I (very naively) thought that the people I was going to see would be starving. But they weren't. They were almost all obese and the prayer circle held every morning confirmed that most people and their loved ones were suffering from heart disease, diabetes, etc.

I started to look around at the food that we were providing - and everything was highly processed. We rarely got donations of fresh fruit or veg but we were loaded up with white bread, pastries, sugary cereals, etc. It was like a vicious cycle - their lifestyles were causing health issues that caused them to have to spend more and more money on medical care or impacted their ability to work, which further impacted their ability to buy healthy foods, which just compounded their health problems.

It's easy to put blame obesity on individual people, but obesity is linked to many other social issues in the US. There's a reason that certain lifestyle diseases are more prevalent in certain communities than others... and until we begin tackling obesity at higher levels than just the individual, it's going to continue to grow as an epidemic.

Meerataila

Having never dealt with depression, I don't think I can comment.

Obese, morbidly obese, super obese etc. is definitely in my opinion debilitating and can facilitate a whole host of medical issues.
It's sad really, but even sadder is to judge when I've never been in that position.

Agreed.

To me it's like saying lung cancer isn't a disabling if you got it from smoking. Or liver failure if you got it from doing drugs. Or having lost both legs while playing chicken with a train. Doesn't matter how you got there, once you're there, you're not able to do what you used to do, therefore you are disabled.

Not to say everyone who can reverse such a condition shouldn't try, but they'll likely have much more success with some help.

chivalryder

dis·a·bil·i·ty
/ˌdisəˈbilitē/

noun

noun: disability; plural noun: disabilities

a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

However, being OBESE or MORBIDLY OBESE does.

Im Obese and I can jog..So I disagree

Morbidly obese and can jog. And jump up onto 6' walls. And work as hard as anyone else.

/shrug

So you weigh 350+ lbs and can jump up onto 6' walls?

325+ with a BMI of around 43ish. And yes, yes I can.

That's awesome man.

Meerataila

I think one of the biggest problems with obesity is that most people see it as a personal issue and not a societal one.

I remember volunteering at a food bank in a very poor county in Georgia. I (very naively) thought that the people I was going to see would be starving. But they weren't. They were almost all obese and the prayer circle held every morning confirmed that most people and their loved ones were suffering from heart disease, diabetes, etc.

I started to look around at the food that we were providing - and everything was highly processed. We rarely got donations of fresh fruit or veg but we were loaded up with white bread, pastries, sugary cereals, etc. It was like a vicious cycle - their lifestyles were causing health issues that caused them to have to spend more and more money on medical care or impacted their ability to work, which further impacted their ability to buy healthy foods, which just compounded their health problems.

It's easy to put blame obesity on individual people, but obesity is linked to many other social issues in the US. There's a reason that certain lifestyle diseases are more prevalent in certain communities than others... and until we begin tackling obesity at higher levels than just the individual, it's going to continue to grow as an epidemic.

This is the third rail of the discussion. Expect a wave of people denying that healthy food is more expensive even though it clearly is.

likitisplit

dis·a·bil·i·ty
/ˌdisəˈbilitē/

noun

noun: disability; plural noun: disabilities

a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

However, being OBESE or MORBIDLY OBESE does.

Im Obese and I can jog..So I disagree

Morbidly obese and can jog. And jump up onto 6' walls. And work as hard as anyone else.

/shrug

So you weigh 350+ lbs and can jump up onto 6' walls?

325+ with a BMI of around 43ish. And yes, yes I can.

Fat doesn't mean unfit.

However, anorexia means that exercise MUST be restricted because of the pressure it places on the weakened heart.

That's a disabling condition due to as free a choice as getting fat due to depression.

yesterdayusaid2morrow

America doesn't have an obesity problem, we have a heart problem. And I'm not talking cardiovascular. OP, do you have any close friends/family that are morbidly obese? When was the last time you invited them out for a hike or included them in a healthy activity? To the man judging his "lazy" neighbor, how about you? You know her so well, why not try including her? Does it make you folks feel good about yourselves to speak about others with such righteous overtones? Grow up already.