Is Being Fat A Disability?

I think a clear understanding of this woman's attitude can be garnered by this sentence alone, "I read my body as impaired and unchangeable." That alone shows that she would not fit into the MFP community. Her conclusion ends up as a question, is she disabled because she is fat? Well that is the topic question here. IMHO, no, she is not disabled; she is just fat and trying to justify it.

Not going to quote the entire above comment, but this poster pretty much sums up my feelings about the article and the OP's question. (Side note, did anyone else find the article rather poorly written and/or organized? It was a little painful for me to follow the logic being applied. It may be because I did not agree with the author's position, but I'd like to think I could still recognize the difference.)

To expand the discussion a bit more, the article's author and several commenters have mentioned the potential impact of mental illness on an individual's ability to avoid or "cure" obesity. My question, then, is this: what is the actual disability--obesity resulting from the mental illness, or the mental illness itself? And if obesity can at some point be deemed its own disability (I would tend to agree that someone too obese to leave the house is at that point disabled), how can one distinguish between the two? Or is it just an extreme symptom of the underlying mental illness?

I think it is a slippery slope.

By a literal definition, severe obesity is a disability.

Do we ask the man in the wheelchair WHY they are in a wheelchair, and then deny them the rights to the label because the reason they are in the wheelchair is due to bad choices?

I WISH that I got fat from eating "just one too many chips". LOL!

I was born 10lbs11oz and I have stayed large since then. Eventually, my weight became a good defense against personal and physical intimacy following some traumatic events in my childhood. It is far more complicated than one-too-many-chips can describe.

With that said, I would feel uncomfortable labeling myself as disabled, and would have even when I weighed 325lbs. I think it is always important for ANY person with a disability of any kind to endeavour for health and progressive forward movement in their life.

This is perhaps my favourite line from this discussion:

"That doesn't mean that they should be pandered to as someone who needs special privileges, per se, but like all disabled people, they should have equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. "

I think a clear understanding of this woman's attitude can be garnered by this sentence alone, "I read my body as impaired and unchangeable." That alone shows that she would not fit into the MFP community. Her conclusion ends up as a question, is she disabled because she is fat? Well that is the topic question here. IMHO, no, she is not disabled; she is just fat and trying to justify it.

Not going to quote the entire above comment, but this poster pretty much sums up my feelings about the article and the OP's question. (Side note, did anyone else find the article rather poorly written and/or organized? It was a little painful for me to follow the logic being applied. It may be because I did not agree with the author's position, but I'd like to think I could still recognize the difference.)

To expand the discussion a bit more, the article's author and several commenters have mentioned the potential impact of mental illness on an individual's ability to avoid or "cure" obesity. My question, then, is this: what is the actual disability--obesity resulting from the mental illness, or the mental illness itself? And if obesity can at some point be deemed its own disability (I would tend to agree that someone too obese to leave the house is at that point disabled), how can one distinguish between the two? Or is it just an extreme symptom of the underlying mental illness?

right... so if i have the mental issue but I am not obese, am I disabled? There is a severe, stark and very important difference between "disabled" and "sick."

I think a clear understanding of this woman's attitude can be garnered by this sentence alone, "I read my body as impaired and unchangeable." That alone shows that she would not fit into the MFP community. Her conclusion ends up as a question, is she disabled because she is fat? Well that is the topic question here. IMHO, no, she is not disabled; she is just fat and trying to justify it.

Not going to quote the entire above comment, but this poster pretty much sums up my feelings about the article and the OP's question. (Side note, did anyone else find the article rather poorly written and/or organized? It was a little painful for me to follow the logic being applied. It may be because I did not agree with the author's position, but I'd like to think I could still recognize the difference.)

To expand the discussion a bit more, the article's author and several commenters have mentioned the potential impact of mental illness on an individual's ability to avoid or "cure" obesity. My question, then, is this: what is the actual disability--obesity resulting from the mental illness, or the mental illness itself? And if obesity can at some point be deemed its own disability (I would tend to agree that someone too obese to leave the house is at that point disabled), how can one distinguish between the two? Or is it just an extreme symptom of the underlying mental illness?

right... so if i have the mental issue but I am not obese, am I disabled? There is a severe, stark and very important difference between "disabled" and "sick."

I agree with you; however, it seemed like the author was trying to argue that the underlying sickness was, in itself, a disability.

I think it is a slippery slope.

This is an understatement. If being obese were to be declared a disability by the governement then you open up a can of worms because of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What would be expected of an employer to provide resonable accomodation?

One is "disabled from", and "unable to..." Being fat, which I am, makes one UNable to go up stairs, not disabled from going up stairs.

Victim mentality at its worst.

I don't think so. Maybe someone gains FROM a disability, but being overweight in itself, wtf?

Tried to read it. Blah blah blah. If you're overweight, change your life! Fat is a disability alright, but one that is within the control of the person. A selectively acquired disability? Whatever you call it, it kills and maims and is a burden not only to yourself but to your family, and society as a whole.

I think 2 years ago I felt defeated. I was morbidly obese and I didn't realize there was a way to resolve it. I didn't care. I ate fast food, because I had to work long hours. I had a long commute and wanted to sleep all the time.

I felt like I was disabled, but enabled as well. I was being enabled by my husband and daughter to eat however I wanted because I had excuses.

Now, NO EXCUSES. No more! I can walk, and I can use my brain, which means I can make better choices. Yes it was expensive to buy healthy food and to make healthy choices, but it's cheaper than health care in the USA!!!!! This is the best thing I have done in my life. I'll try to help anyone I can to lose the weight because I know how great it feels to have the mobility and strength and energy.

The only part of disability in an obese person is the mental part!! Until they get their head around what they need to do to lose weight, they wont' lose.

I wouldn't say so. I would say Severe Obesity is a Disorder. If you don't do something about it, and let it go and don't care, you have a severe disorder in my opinion.