Is obesity a CHOICE?

So should there be jobs that can only be done by "thin" people?

There's a whole thread about using "unfit" personal trainers. Does that count?

I believe it is a choice..........

Here's his FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE after all the media attention.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=8835044

"Kenneth Krause stood by his statements and was apparently unmoved by the response. He declined an invitation to appear on the television station, and then issued the following statement.

"Given this country's present epidemic of obesity and the many truly horrible diseases related thereto, and considering Jennifer Livingston's fortuitous position in the community, I hope she'll finally take advantage of a rare and golden opportunity to influence the health and psychological well-being of Coulee region children by transforming herself for all of her viewers to see over the next year," he wrote. "And to that end, I would be absolutely pleased to offer her any advice or support she would be willing to accept."

That last sentence he says I think summarizes his state of mind. He clearly is insensitive and that final statement sounds like a final dig. Despite hearing Jennifer's personal situation (thyroid condition; she IS active, etc.), he doesn't truly care. He has zoned in on the fact that she still LOOKS fat and that appearance disgusts HIM and HE"S got to have it HIS way, because he is after all Master of the Universe. Interestingly, he declines to appears to on TV. He doesn't think we can handle seeing his perfect body.

Saw this last night as well...and I agree with you. I also saw a couple of articles that said he refused to provide his profession...I thought maybe if he's offering his help, he's a trainer or fitness expert of some sort and feels that that gives him the right to make comments about her appearance...but who knows?

I totally agree. He decided to leave with the final word, challenging her in front of an audience to do something about her weight. People are saying that this isn't bullying - I think he is trying to publicly shame her into conforming to whatever he thinks she's supposed to be. To me, that's a bully.

**AND I think what disgusts me the most is how many people are on his side. It just shows how judgmental and ignorant people really are.

Do people who have sex choose to get pregnant?
Do people who smoke choose to get lung cancer?
Do people who drive without a seatbelt choose to get ejected from their car?
Do people who have unprotected sex choose to get an STD?
Do black people who walk around in white neighborhoods choose to get jumped?
Do women who wear short skirts choose to be raped?
Do gays who come out choose to be attacked?
Do people who speed on the road choose to have "on purposes" (instead of accidents)?

No one is consciously choosing these outcomes. And when it comes to food, no one can say how one food or one meal absolutely WILL affect a given person. Person A can eat a candy bar and gain a pound. Person B can eat the same candy bar and not gain an ounce. Some people blame the food: if candy wasn't available, people wouldn't be obese!

But wait, there's more:

If only X, people would not be/would be X!

Fill in the X's to your heart's content.

People don't go into things hoping for a negative outcome (unless you've got mental problems but if you're fat with mental problems then people will see your fat as the problem and your mental problems as something easily overcome.)

It's so simple, though: Eat less, exercise more. That's the key to everyone's beauty and perfection, right?

So like, if people would stop having sex, we wouldn't have abortions. YAY!
If people would stop smoking, there'd be no lung cancer. Yay!
If people wore seatbelts, they would never get ejected from a crash. Yay!
If gays stayed in the closet they would not be attacked! YAy!
If black people stayed out of white neighborhoods, they wouldn't get jumped! Yay!
If women covered up, they wouldn't get raped. YAy!

Does anyone see how ridiculous this is?

Let's look at it from a "health" perspective:

A fat person and a thin person eat the exact same diet. The fat person gets fatter because of their body chemistry. The thin person remains thin. Yet we attack the fat person as if they have done something tantamount to murdering puppies. Now let's say the thin person then goes out after dinner and has unprotected sex and gets AIDS or herpes etc and drives home without a seatbelt on and then has a smoke.

Is anyone going to be attacking the thin person for their choices? Nope. Because why? We can't SEE their choices and their choices haven't made them UGLY (at least not yet;). All this so called "health" crap is really "anti-ugly" stuff. If you're not attractive, you're not afforded simple human rights. Your lifestyle is up for judgement, your food, your body, everything about you.

But you can be thin, hide all of your ugliness and people will never have a problem with how you live your life. It is nice being able to hide it. Which is why when people say "Why would anyone choose to be gay?" I have to ask, Why would anyone choose to be fat?

Considering that every body is different and different bodies react differently to different things, why are we making obese people pariahs and spreading hate? Telling them they are responsible for people being fat in general. Telling them they should change. CHANGE. I don't go up to people on the street and tell them to CHANGE. I don't demand anyone to be a "role model" for anyone else. Besides, does everyone in the public eye have to be a role model? Seriously? And you look to your local NEWS ANCHOR for that kind of thing?

"Now sally, I want you to be just like that newswoman OMG WHAT A BAD ROLE MODEL LOOK AWAY SALLY LOOK AWAY!"

Come on. I don't want my child modeling herself after ANY news anchor and it's not because of what they look like.

So yeah this is a novel.

We choose what to put in our mouths but when does that become someone else's business? We also choose what to put in our other orifices and would scream bloody murder before allowing anyone to restrict THOSE activities.

Are we talking about health or are we talking about how fat is ugly and we don't want to look at fat make it go away? Because skinny people can be lazy, stuff their faces, eat crap all day long like french fries and candy bars, not exercise at all, rarely touch a vegetable, and never get a checkup. They can be just as unhealthy, gross, lazy and slobby. I should know because I'm married to one of those skinny people. But yay at least he's SKINNY because that's all that matters. And I guess he CHOSE to be skinny with that lifestyle, right?

I'm just going to put it out there: perhaps not a conscious choice.

Only recently I discovered what my subconscious choice of remaining obese and unhealthy was all about - security and protection. I would also eat out of boredom or to stay awake - and I'm still struggling with those issues.

Sometimes we need to find out what generates our need for food before we can deprogram ourselves from those triggers. It's like a twelve-step program - first you have to get out of your denial you have a problem before you can work on the problem.

I believe as a young adult, yes it is a choice. expecially people 18+ who are adults making their own decisions.

Every day we are faced with constant choices. If you keep chosing to eat unhealthy then you will be unhealthy. Some people have a medical condition and some have psychological conditions, but many times both types of conditions are caused by poor diet in the first place (not always). When I was eating poorly I was depressed and had anxiety attacks, I in turn ate food to "feel good".

I would say yes I chose to gain 45 pounds

Now I try every day to make the choices that will make me 45 pounds lighter

I would never say based on looking at someone that they chose to be obese. This anchor for a local TV station received a private email from a viewer who confronted her that she was a bad role model because of her weight. You can hear her on air response here. This is a difficult and challenging topic as our society tries to solve the obesity epidemic. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOpqd0rQSo&sns=fb

There are some people who have medical issues that cause them to be overweight. I would never judge someone based on their size. However... for the most part, people CHOOSE what to eat.... which results in larger sizes. So, while they may not choose to be obese, they are more often than not causing themselves to be overweight.

Being obese stems from addiction. Smokers, drug addicts, alcoholics- you may choose to take that first taste, but once you are addicted, it is more than a simple "choice" to turn things around.
Back when I was drinking daily, I knew I didn't *want* to drink, but to function on a daily basis I had to. That was, until I was able to orchestrate my life to where I could get some help.
Then there is the genetic aspect. Some of us are more predisposed to addictions of all kinds.

Often there are also deep seeded issues that are the driving force behind someone's weight issues. Like the woman who overeats because she was raped over and over as a child- she keeps the pounds on as a way to distance herself from those of the opposite sex. A layer of protection, if you will.
Or the boy who was always hungry as a child, never allowed to have more than one meal a day, and never seconds, now is compelled to have extra food all the time because being hungry brings him back to a state of panic. Those issues regarding past traumas have often never been addressed, and the weight is just a symptom of much bigger, more complex issues.
So, be careful not to judge- don't jump to "just don't eat that fatty, make a better choice". You can never know the entire story at first glance or cover everyone in the same giant blanket of shame.



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I believe that most of the time it is a choice. Not that someone sets out to be over 100 lbs. overweight, but by their own poor dietary choices have become obese. I know that sometimes there are medical reasons but I believe that the majority of the time it is not due to a medical issue.

2cents

Barring any real medical issue, such as thyroid issue or whatever, yes, it's a choice to be big. There are variations though. I have a Samoan friend, he can lose weight, but his small is bigger than I've ever been in my life. Lol. So, it's all relative. But, I think for the most part, it is a choice. For the vast majority of people, if they eat a reasonably clean diet 90% of the time, and get a decent amount of exercise, they would be fine and healthy.

I have been this weight since I started here. Only to go up and down 10 lb to 15 lb loss. According to the BMI I have 100 lbs to lose.

I am a dancer, I work out regularly hard core not just walking, don't have a sit down job, and I don't go over my calories. I am never even close. I just found this thread to see if Samoans can't lose weight. I am half.

I didn't just discover eating sensibly or working out yesterday. This was just another something I thought I would try. My mother is a thin and never had junk in the house when I was a child. You won't find it in my house either. Plus, I was an athlete as a child. I was really good at it.

Point is my life is hardly sedentary. Just because yours was does not mean that everyone who is overweight or obese is the same.

I am really clueless how I got this way. My clue is I probably have to move 16 hours a day like my ancestors did.

tagging to read later on my phone.

grave digger

Considering the mountain of scientific data about how hormones, genes, stress, sleep, and even the microbes living in your gut, affect body weight, I think that obesity is at least partly NOT a choice. It's an interaction of genes, environment, and choices. Some people have a much tougher fight to maintain a healthy weight than other people do, even if they make healthy choices about food and exercise.

Wow, that video is so powerful. Although I don't believe being obese is healthy at all, it's her life and her choices. I don't see how anyone could have the heart to send that message to her.

As for myself, I am obese. It really hit me when I got to 200 lbs that it's not okay. I was slowly but literally killing myself. And I'm only 21 for goodness sake! So, I'm committed to eating healthy now, losing weight little by little. When I have kids, I want them to look up to me and I want to be a good example for them.