Is obesity a CHOICE?

YES, there are some people in society that CHOOSE to eat the way they eat so, in turn, CHOOSE to be Obese and stay the way they are. BUT, again, you dont know their situation nor do you know what they are going thru. Maybe instead of BULLYING someone, people could try to HELP them find a reason for their actions and things would start to change for them in ALL aspects of their lives!

I you! I agree... no one KNOWS another's life. And to add, it's NOONE'S right to tell a person they have never met what they think they ARE or SHOULD BE to other people....

Here's my thought. Is she overweight? Yes, which she freely admitted in her response. Is this SINGLE aspect of her what defines her as a proper role model for young people? Because I see her differently. She has a great job, and has held that great job for many years. She is smart and well spoken. She has gone to college, and earned a degree. She is a wife and a mother. She is caring and compassionate. She is full of self worth, and stands up for what she believes in.

Now, I don't live in Wisconsin. I have never seen this news anchor before this story broke. I learned all of this about her in about 4 1/2 minutes. Whether she is overweight or not, I hope that my kids DO look to her as a role model. I hope that they grow up to be kind, compassionate people. I hope they grow up, and continue their educations, and get good jobs, and become productive members of society. I hope they get married and have families of their own. I hope that they are smart, and well spoken, and confident in themselves, and can handle sitiations like this with as much class and tact as she did.

I hope that my child would NEVER send an email to an absolute stranger, and tell them they are less than what they should be because of their weight. I hope that my child would never call someone fat, or judge someone based soley on their physical appearence.

Yes, he was correct in saying that she was overweight (or, what some of the other posters have kept saying, FACT). But what in the world gives him the right to say that to another person? Just because she is a TV personality, he can watch the show one time and feels he has the right to send her and email, tell her she is a horrible person, and call her fat? If I posted on my newsfeed that a complete stranger walked up to me and told me I was a bad role model to my kids because I am overweight - all of MY friends would be pissed. Because what that stranger doesn't know about me - is that while I am still overweight, I have LOST 75 pounds, the RIGHT way. I teach my kids to eat right, and to drink water, and to get off the couch and get outside and play. I run with my daughter, and play soccer with my son, and teach them about healthy eating habits. I try to teach them about being healthy, not about being skinny.

To me - SHE is the role model in this situation. HE IS NOT. In his email - he sent the message that an overweight person cannot be a role model. The message she sent in response - don't let anyone else determine your self-worth. I wish I would have learned this lesson years and years ago. I was bullied. I was called FAT. I was stood up for prom twice in highschool. I never had a date to a dance. I had food thrown at me in the cafeteria. I had notes written about me, and thrown at me in class. If only I knew then what I know now... my entire life would have been different.

Kudo's to her for sending this message - regardless of the number on her scale.

...being on TV in the public eye, is a type of 'role model' for our younger generation. What we see on TV becomes the accepted norm.

:noway:
To me, it is beyond pathetic that someone is seen as a role model simply for being on TV. How *kitten* sad that is! :sick:

The part that really bothered me about his email was when he said that she was especially a bad role model for girls, reinforcing the idea that it is better for men to be overweight as opposed to women.

However, I will say that the freedom of speech kind of does give you the right to criticize. The entire idea of freedom of speech was so people could speak against the government without fear of being arrested. So did this man have the right to send this email? Yes. Is he an idiot? Yes. Am I bullying him by calling him an idiot? Yes.

Freedom of speech doesn't cover social mores. It's within my rights to approach strangers on the street and tell them they are hideous. That doesn't make it ok to do that.

Agree one hundred percent. We are not arguing his right to say what he say, we are just pointing out that he is a prick.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-we-are-so-rude-online.html

of course its a choice, unless someone has tied you to a chair and shoved food in your mouth, its 100% your fault if you are overweight

Freedom of speech or not, no one has the right to criticize, judge or bully another person.

This^^^^

Whether or not she has a disease or disorder that causes her to be heavy....this type of communication is bullying plain and simple. She is not asking you to watch her show or comment on her weight or eye color or color of her hair or hairstyle so STFU!

In some cases, people have real disorders that cause them to turn to food. I am not saying it is right, but it is like smoking, drinking or doing drugs....it can be a comfort, a best friend, a stress reliever, a way to forget about whatever is driving you crazy....it is addictive! Ever bit into a slice of pie or a brownie, closed your eyes and thought this is the greatest thing in the world? Guess what, you are addicted!!

I have never been addicted to pot, smoking, alcohol or drugs.....but I AM addicted to food and working hard to remedy that. I do not stop everyone coming out of a liquor store or buying a pack of smokes and say "jeez do you know you are killing yourself with that". I have an addictive personality and am working daily to fix my addiction.

Someone here brought up a thyroid problem. I have hypothyroidism. I learned about it about 4 years ago. Yes, it can cause quite a bit of weight gain but all is not lost. I try to go lower carb (but well above the 100g to stay healthy) and higher protein. You CAN lose weight with a thyroid issue, it is just more challenging and most doctors will tell you that. I will agree with that. However, after learning of my issue, I continued to eat the way I was eating for the past 4 years and THAT is why I topped 213 lbs. I am down 23 lbs now. It can be done. It is a matter of finding what works for you and making the right choices. It isn't easy, but it is doable. I hope you can find something that works for you.

On another note, this thread was asking if being obese was a choice. It asked nothing about bullying. That is just hateful and there is no justification for it for ANY reason in my opinion.

Agree with you 100%. And am very anti-bullying.

BUT, I HATE when people use a medical condition as an excuse to be over weight. No matter your condition, you can lose weight. Many times, the person being unhealthy or overweight is the CAUSE of the medical condition, not the other way around. I have PCOS. Yes, it is harder for me to lose weight, but not impossible. I'm still down 3 pant sizes from when I started here though the weight has been up and down.

I have PCOS BECAUSE I ate too much and moved too little. And as my doctors said, the only thing that will cure your symptoms is to get your body back to an ideal weight. Besides a few exceptions, weight gain causes medical conditions, not the other way around.

Although no-one would choose to be obese, you choose what you put in your mouth, which in my opinion is the same thing.

Ill read the whole thread, but this is my midset.

Although no-one would choose to be obese, you choose what you put in your mouth, which in my opinion is the same thing.

That is not criticising anyone that is overweight; hell, I have the same problem or I wouldn't be here. But ultimately, anyone that loses weight makes the choice to start a healthy lifestyle.

Not true.This woman made the choice to becoem obese.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2117319/Mothers-bid-fattest-human-115-stone---shes-marrying-chef-help-her.html

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.

Explain how she was "publicly" insulted.

I agree with this 100%. I don't think we consciously make the choice. I think we just kind of go about our daily routine but neglect to actually stop and THINK about what that Mcdonald's cheeseburger is going to do to my health. By not being active in your health, you're subconsciously choosing that route. You said it very well and to the point. People often use the excuse that they're addicted to food and have no willpower, and that's why they're overweight. Look at the results people get when they actually put some EFFORT into being healthy..it's amazing!

She doesn't defend why she's overweight she's just saying she is not defined by her appearance. She's gracefully using this as an example to help others who experience bullying based on their appearances. For those who are saying it's a choice you're right, but who cares. He states she's not a role model because of her appearance. Does that mean that Jillian Michaels should do the news cast instead because she eats healthy and exercises? We all make bad choices in our lives just some are more visible than others. Just because you eat clean and exercise does not necessarily make you a good role model. I care more about how you treat people. I tell my children all the time "people will not remember what designer tags you wore, how you looked but they will remember how you made them feel".

The point is that which our mothers used to teach us back in the ice age - if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Why does that man care so much he took the time to write and send an email? It's none of his damn business, and she was absolutely right to call him out on it. It *is* bullying behaviour and it shouldn't have any place in decent society.

The phrase, "if you don't have anything nice to say..." blah, blah, blah should be thrown out of our national cliche arsenal. It is crap designed to keep us meek and compliant when faced with the bad behavior of our betters. I prefer that people act like jerks to my face rather than act like everything is fine to my face, then talk trash behind my back.

Include the phrase, "the customer is always right," in my cliche pet peeves, too. That one also gets me hot under the collar.

Spot on..

On a side note youmight like the website www.customerssuck.com

I think it is definitely both. There are people who choose to eat a large amount of food, junk or not, and also choose to sit on their butt all day because they do not have the desire to workout. That can come from pure laziness, mental issues, and other factors. Then there are people who are pre-disposed to obesity, particularly children who have parents that constantly feed them junk, don't encourage playing outside or put them into activities they would enjoy. Then there are people who are having serious health issues that basically force them to be sedentary which can cause a rapid weight gain because they can barely move and do everyday tasks.

It's all about the environment people are in. A lot of people can 'choose' to not treat their bodies in a healthy manner, and then there are some people that just cannot workout due to health concerns, but can eat healthy and still weigh a ton. You have to have a delicate balance of diet and exercise to have a healthy body and lifestyle.

But to each his/her own. It is not my place to judge and I certainly would not bully because I have been a part of both circumstances.