Is obesity a CHOICE?

My son showed me this clip and I thought it was fabulous. When you see someone, you do not know where they are on their journey, what struggles they face, and what they are doing about it. The fact that obesity is such a target for bullying is real, and for some reason people think it is OK to be mean to someone just because of their weight. This anchor addressed the society attitude head on and she was clear, concise and very brave to do it.

Every one should be a healthy weight. No one should smoke. Motorcyclists should always wear helmets. Kids shouldn't run around barefoot in rocky ground. People should get colonoscopies regularly. There are all kinds of 'shoulds' about how we should be safer, healthier, smarter. But bottom line, making that choice or avoiding it, does not affect a persons worth or right to be treated with respect.

Well said!!! I dont think any sane person mindfully chooses to be obese. It happens because we aren't being mindful and we don't all have the kind of metabolism that will let us get away with that.

No, it isn't a choice per say. Obesity isn't a behavioral problem. It's a broken metabolism that can be caused by numerous things in today's toxic environment. And if the nutritional experts, doctors and scientists (not to mention the government) would get past this maybe then we could figure out what is causing the breakdown inside the body.


Teens have a constant appetite - this is advertised to on TV. They are supposed to overeat because they need it for a growing body. Why is it when they are skinny and eat all the time they just have a big appetite ("he's a growing boy") yet if they are obese and eat all the time it's because they can't help themselves?

In my opinion sugar and wheat just make you want to eat more sugar and wheat. And I repeat myself: this is my opinion.

It depends. I've done nutrition counseling in low income areas, and there are people that seriously lack basic nutritional knowledge. Many people also don't know how to stay within a budget and eat healthy, or how to exercise in a dangerous neighborhood. Once people do understand how to feasibly eat right, then there's not much of an excuse.

I am Obese, I certainly did not make a conscious decision to be this way. I have always gained weight very easily and found it extremely diffcult to lose weight when I have tried.

I found out a few months ago that I'm insulin resistant and have PCOS, which is why I gain weight so easily. I am now losing weight but only by virtually eliminating carbs from my diet. If I hadn't found this out I still would have been stuck in a rut regarding weight loss as I would not have gone down the very low carb route.

So no I don't think that obesity is a choice for me, and don't really think it is a choice for anyone. but I do think that people allow themselves to become overweight and don't address it as early as they should.

I wasn't planning to respond but a thought crossed my mind and I can't let it go.

So is obesity a choice? Yes and No.

So is being skinny a choice? Yes and No.

I have seen fat people stuff their face. I once saw a morbidly obese man at Arby's eat four roastbeef with melted cheese sandwiches and two extralarge curly fries. That is a hell of a lot of food. Was he making a choice to be fat? Yeah he was.

I have seen fat people who ate normal healthy meals and were pretty active (not marathon active but walking the dog every day and hiking on the weekend). And yet she was still fat. Did she choose to be fat? I do not believe that she did.

I have seen skinny people who were only skinny because they starved themselves and hopped themselves on drugs to keep themselves as thin as possible. Did she choose to be skinny? Yes she did.

And I've seen skinny people who can eat whatever the hell they want all day long and not gain a pound. Seriously not joking and I am entirely jealous of it too. Did they choose to be skinny? No they did not. And many of them wish they could put on a little weight.



What gets me is that people seem to think it is ok to label everyone with the same brush. NO everyone is not fat by choice. And even those who over-eat or select foods high in calories may still not be choosing to be fat. There are so many different reasons why some of us gain weight that it is wrong to tell others well you chose to be fat so suck it up and choose to be skinny.

I think for me yes, maybe at the time I wasn't consciously thinking "I'm going to make myself obese", but I only ever over eat, binge when I have felt low, emotional, stressed, worthless.
I have deliberately done this as a kind of form of self harm (this has only just occured to me). I would be feeling bad, upset, hurt etc and think *u*k it....it doesn't matter, I don't care....and I would eat and eat and eat.

When I'm not stressed or upset it would never occur to me to behave in this way....sadly the results of bad eating last a lot longer than a few months or so of feeling down.

So, no, I never wanted to be in this position....but it is of my own deliberate doing.

Hope that ramble makes sense :ohwell:

tagging to read later on my phone.

You have been tagging a bunch of old threads. That is going to be a lot of reading on your phone.

Well, some say there's a such thing as being "addicted" to food.
If this were the case, such poor afflicted souls would certainly have no choice in the matter.

I don't believe in such a ridiculous concept, however.
Obesity is most definitely a choice.

I believe it relates more as plain ignorance initially than choice then slides into the end result. I mean, I see what is said around here on a daily basis and sometimes I just...I dunno..and these are people who are actively out looking for a better way. Imagine those who its just not on their priority list.

I didn't chose to be obese. I ws a healthy weight into my twenties. I was then diagnosed bi polar. The cocktail of drugs they gave me to make me normal!! Destroyed me. I lost all my enthusiasm for life any sparkle I had and the weight just piled on over the yrs. I decided if rather be barking mad than fat when I had a time of clarity. I have up the meds and started to try to get a life back not an existence. You have no idea why some people are over weight. Its not always a case of its just what they eat.