Is obesity a CHOICE?

I think it is and it isn't. There are plenty of disorders, psychological or endocrine, that can contribute to obesity. While the psychological ones may seem like choices, they're obviously viewed negatively and attached with many negative stigmas, when in reality, eating is a coping mechanism for some people.

So is it a choice? It kind of is if you take away the endocrine disorders and psychological coping. Then again, think about how easy it is for us to gain access to certain foods or to eat the foods we "like to eat". Eating feels good, but we have to teach ourselves how to eat and when to stop our cravings. It's very much a choice to adopt a healthy life style as it is to stay with an unhealthy one.

I this. Well said.

Put junk in your body, what's the result? Not nice. Make healthy choices and you will be rewarded with a healthy body.

So what about the skinny people who drink like a fish, and scarf down burgers? Healthy choices does not always equal a healthy body. Portion control is a must also being active works too.

Everyone is a victim now.

So when someone publicly insults you, you should just suck it up? That may be the way you roll, but don't expect me to lie down and take it. It's not "being a victim", it's standing up for what you believe is right.

I dont want to b obese! But I chose the foods that went in my mouth to make me this way! Now I am paying for it and trying to undo it! I do believe there are some rare cases though!

So should there be jobs that can only be done by "thin" people? And if the newscaster was thin and beautiful, but smoked and drank off camera where this guy couldn't see or know about it that would be all right? Since it wasn't interferring in her job as role model? He decided to take one part of her life and give his opinion about it. That's just not acceptable! Does he randomly stop all overweight people and tell them what he thinks? Is everything in his life perfect? And does he truly think (as she said in her speech) THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW???? Did he think pointing it out would help?

All hidden medical issues aside, yes, it is most likely something she could change if she worked at it like most of us on MFP are doing. But it is not this random jack@ss' job to tell other people how to live their lives.

its not a choice its the result of an addiction or being irresponsible

I think in all but the rarest of cases, obesity IS a choice.

I also think it's an outward sign of some inward issue. It's not always a major issue, but there's always a "cause" if you dig deep enough.

I haven't read any responses so if this has already been said, forgive me.

Is alcoholism a choice? Are eating disorders a choice? Certainly we know no one would consciously choose any of these afflictions for themselves or their family. Of course, we can choose how we deal with these things, but they are undoubtedly a struggle.

The causes for obesity are complex and nuanced and different for every person. There are some general trends - we have more time to be lazy and more things to entertain us while we sit or lay about, our food supply is loaded with sugar and fat and preservatives, we build our cities in the US around driving, not walking, biking or using public transportation and of course, the favorite of personal responsibility.

My main point is whether it's a choice or not, it's going to take more than crying "PERSONAL RESONSIBILITY" to cure it. Shame is a horrible motivator. If that's all it took we wouldn't be in this mess. We need serious cultural changes. I'd start with food production.

Yes and no. We make our own priorities. For years my priorities were raising 4 boys as a single mother at poverty (no below) level. My husband left after 18 years of marriage and I was thrown into a scenario I never imagined. Survival was key and perhaps by body chose to eat and store everything it could for those days food was scarce. I don't know all of the reasons, but now that my life has settled down I have time to focus on me and my health. Let's not judge others people. You don't know what they are going through right now. We all have faults. When did it become OK to run around insulting people. "You're ugly. You're fat. Your hair is gross. You're lazy. You're selfish." We can't run around with this communication. What happened to being nice? Sure we have free speech, but we should not let that be an excuse to be rude, cruel and ugly.

We honestly don't know this woman...Are you her friend? Do you know what she eats or drink everyday? Maybe she consciously eats right and has a thyroid issue. Just because she is fat does not mean that she chooses to be that way. Until we can see her "food diary" there is no reason for you to judge her.