The overweight have to pay the bills the same as the muscle-bound steroidians we drool over on television.
When you go into an interview, the key to winning is two things: how you sell yourself, and how others buy into your pitch. Apparently, according to my mother, if you are too fat, you can’t possibly get employed. I can imagine how horrible a future that would look if we based employment on that.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Brtha
Im 378lbs 5' 2". Was told on my last job interview that they be displeased with my hygene. Did not care fer me underarms for I NO shave. Yes may-be large butt bathe once per weak. Job i wanted was fer leagel transsription righer. Have BS AT harverd with along was arobet instructter. Dis no fair cause my weight. Me sea no discrimenations aggainst thin little migits types, how ya say homeasexyall faggeets or like that. Theink this be bush kause him conservativity
27 - ryan
hahahahahahaha.
28 - fos
As an employer I tell job applicants that I see who are fat I will not hire them. When they ask me why I tell them the truth. You are disgusting, lazy, and smell like camel shit. Last week I had this one female applicant wanting a job in my club. She was 4'8" and her weight was 387lbs. Wow, what a stinkarama. One butt cheak was bigger then my whole body. Cant even guess what this hippo would look like slideing naked down the pole. Since im not a prejudice person concerning porkers, I direct them to Matthew Milam's club.
29 - fos
Calling all porkers, please comment. Michael Moore wanted a job at my club. Guess he liked naked pole slideing. For the viewing patrons that would be like watching people on Fear Factor eating his under shorts out of Rosey O' donald's toilet. YUM.
30 - Nancy
Overweight or outright obese does not necessarily stem from bad habits. Accidents precluding subsequent ability to move easily, genetic tendencies, and developed chemical imbalances as well as what I suspect are physical changes in the general population in response to ubiquitous preservatives & additives in almost everything we eat are also to blame, as is marketing, which has virtually forced "supersizing" & ingestion of unnecessary junk foods on everyone from birth. Consider how many prepared foods have additives that are outright (and deliberately, IMO) addictive, altho the manufacturers deny it vociferously - just like the cigarette companies did the carcinogenic & addictive aspects of their products.
Those who pronounce overweight persons to be pigs, or otherwise subhuman, are guilty of smugness, hypocrisy, self-satisfaction, and frankly I look forward to the day when their systems suddenly blow them up to 200 lbs. and they change their tunes real fast. Someone like the asshole in comment #28 is angling for a lawsuit, and I hope he gets it. Soon. Besides which, I know a lot of 'thin' people whose standards of hygiene are unacceptably low, and a lot of fat ones who are perfectly socially acceptable in their standards of cleanliness.
On the other hand, I do understand employers' concern with keeping medical costs in check by trying to minimize possible health concerns. However, if by this it means not hiring anyone with less than stellar physical qualities, well...such an employer is likely to go out of business because they can't find anyone to fit their standards, as well as going to jail because frankly such standards are against the law, like it or not. Employers can NOT discriminate against qualified applicants based on their health or (more importantly) what they think or suspect such an applicant's health MAY become. Such second guessing is not only impossible, but insane. Someone who looks perfectly fit may in fact harbor the beginnings of MS, or lupus, or Alzheimer's some 15 years down the road. There's no way to tell. Some of the healthiest people I know are not skinny; some of the most miserably ill people I've met are very skinny; and physical health does not equate with mental acuity, resourcefulness, or creativity. On the contrary, I find that many of those who are NOT thin & fit are more mentally & creatively active than their thin & fit counterparts, because they have to be.
Point is, you can't use weight to judge anyone's capabilities in a job any more than you can use their skin color, to do so is just as criminal, and so is denying anyone employment on that basis. Those who insist that there is room only for the thin & fit sin as badly as those who insist that there is room only for the white or the rich, the Muslim, or any other group.
31 - Jak
Fat people are so cool that they should be able to get a job. I mean if we have an other ice age who will keep the skinny peole warm. Give em a F&&@# job.
32 - T Bone
I would not hire a fat person unless I was looking for a chef. They are an eye sore. Nobody wants to work next to a big, fat, sweat hog. When fat people breathe it sounds like they're being smothered. I can't handle it.
Nancy: "I look forward to the day when their systems suddenly blow them up to 200 lbs"
I'm 200 lbs. I'm also 6' 5".
Some people are predisposed to weight gain. God forbid they have to work harder to keep it off. If you are fat, log off the computer, put down the moon pie, and go for a walk. I don't want to see you back on this site until you do three laps around the block.
Congrats to all you people typing with fat fingers for keeping the typos at a minimum. I look forward to punching you all in your fat bellies.
33 - NR Davis
This thought occurs to me quite a lot at BC, but I have to verbalize it for once: There are some seriously frightening people here.
34 - Matthew Milam
Unforunatly, you are right.
35 - fos
NR Davis#33 and Matthew#34. Could not agree more. What in the world are these lovers of big fat stinking people thinking. Could it be politicaly correct. Thanks. fos
36 - NR Davis
See what I mean? Scary.
37 - fos
Was served with papers today. Due to my so called descrimination hiring practices towards weight challenged females (Big ass fat women) applicants at my club must he hired if they can demonstrate the ability for pole climbing. This is crap an un-American. Most of my clientele come to view beautiful naked women in great shape do the pole thing. Because we have an epidmic of over-weight Rosey O'Donald type large big ass women, and since I must think policital correctness is the American way, it leaves me with two choices. Spend serious money attracting men who lean toward a fetish for the over-sized sweat pigs or close my doors and lay off most of my employee's which are single women supporting a family.
Sure the hell hate these fat fucks. Like I stated in previous comments, they stink and have the hygiene habits of most camels. Who in their right frecking mind would desire to be a gynecologist. Holy crap.
38 - ziner
I'm fat... but am I fat because I'm lazy or because I have to work ALL THE DAMN TIME to support my family? I work one full-time job, one part-time job, am a caring mother to my child, and have to keep up a house. I average 4-5 hours of sleep a night and consider myself lucky if I get 6 hours.
Do you think I have time to join a gym even if I could afford it?
I LIKE healthy food, although I consume too much of it considering my sedentary lifestyle (both jobs are sedentary).
I'm sure I'm not the only fat person out there that has put on the weight because of working so much. I'd hardly call people like myself "lazy".
And you may consider me unhealthy by looking at my size--but my blood pressure is if anything-- BELOW average. I don't smoke and eat healthy. Am I that much worse off than the average American?
Why equate fat with lazy? How about we associate thin with heroin addicts?
39 - Big Bertha
Just cause I weigh 465lbs and Im 4' ll" dont mean Im lazy. Sure I like to eat like most folks, maybe just a little more. My man who is 6'6" and weigh about 150lbs like me the way I is. We have good sex life also. I take a shower maybe once per week and it clean me. People look at me when I go out. Can see them stare at me like Im a whale or hippo. That ok cause me have my man. Just wanted to tell that to ya all.
[Thanks for that contribution, sr. Comments Editor]
40 - sr
YOUR WELCOME MS. COMMENT EDITOR. IF YOU NEED MORE OF MY CONTRIBUTIONS WILL GIVE JUST FOR YOU ONLY MY DISCOUNT RATE. $200.00 PER WORD. IS THAT A DEAL OR WHAT.
41 - Christopher Rose
I'll put your mistaking my gender down to your advancing years, sr, but I could only accept your offer after applying my own -250$ discount to your fee. The bill is in the post!
42 - Richard Brodie
With so much political correctness out there these days I'm surprised by the attitude towards weight ... I would hope if this kind of discrimination can be proven in the office it's taken to court.
Political correctness be damned. Employers should have the freedom to employ or refuse to employ anyone they want. Where image is important business will be lost based on appearance. The undesireability could be a full body tatoo, dozens of face rings, multi-colored neon mohawk, a gay guy who acts and talks in a glaringly fairyish manner, being black in a business with exclusively white clientelle, or being white in a business with exclusively black clientelle, obesity that goes way beyond pleasingly plump, etc.
The right of free association is guaranteed by the first amendment. The right to "peaceably assemble" with people you want to, is meaningless unless it includes the right NOT to be associated with people you DON'T want to.
43 - sr
Christ, see your $250.00 and raise you another $250.00. Now the cat is out of the bag, or would that be the bag is out of the s---.
Thanks for the help in passed times. The gender thing had nothing to do with my advancing years. Was just being my usual ass-hole self thinking I owned pit bull's or something.
Later
44 - Credible Threat
The thing is, the fatter you are, the more likely you will have health complications later in life requiring medical treatment.
It is this logic that is used by some companies now to force workers to stop smoking, even on their own private time. They don't want rising health insurance premiums.
I don't see why the same logic doesn't apply to fat people. A company can say you need to be x weight to work here, because of rising health insurance costs.
Nothing personal, just business.
A few months ago, I saw a 20/20 special on losing weight. Shrinks and other experts said people don't do it (or do anything) until there is a "credible threat." So 20/20 ran their own experiment with fat people: lose weight (15 lbs in 6 weeks) or else we will reveal photos of you in swimwear. This credible threat scared everyone into losing weight. Only one lady didn't make, but she was close.
The point is, everyone put in the effort because of the credible threat.
Maybe the credible threat of not being able to make money will make obese people lose weight. It sure as well would motivate me (6'2", 275 lbs).
45 - Matthew Milam
That makes no sense at all.
If you don't lose weight we will put photos of you in your swimwear out on the general public?
Sounds like 20/20 went Dateline NBC on that one.
46 - sr
Please Matthew, No swimwear, at least not at my dinner hour.
47 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
After reading all this, I have to point out that a lot of "fat" is genetics, and a lot more is the nature of the food we eat.
Some of it comes from accidents. One woman I know used to walk a mile a day and do twenty sit-ups nightly. Genetics gave her a lightly pudgy body, but she did what she could to stay in shape. Then she slipped on some ice in a bus and damaged her back. She can't do the sit-ups she used to and her figure has suffered accordingly.
The genetics is an individual thing. If someone is going to be shaped like a pear, she can blame her parents for the DNA, and not beat up on herself. Of course society will beat up on her - or him, and you just have to have a thick skin to deal with all the crap that people deal out to make them into sheeple.
If blame is to be ladled out at all, it belongs on Madison Avenue - for creating the image of the skinny thing sliding up and down the pole, and the pressure on all women to be skinny things sliding up and down a pole or huge hunks who bend poles (except their own, of course)
Then there is packaged food - laden with salt, sugar and all sorts of other garbage, and other lovely things that do not contribute to one's health. If anyone knows this, I do. I was a Burger King manager. It's not as bad as McDonald's, but it's not that marvellous either. And this gets hustled big time on the boob tube. So on the one side, you have Madison Avenue hustling trash guaranteed to turn any person into a lardass candidate for a heart attack, and making a fortune off of it, and on the other, you have Madison Avenue hustling the image of the super skinny little thing having continuous sex with huge hunks of beefcake - and making a fortune off of that too.
And then the people who buy the Mcmuffins for breakfast get to live a Mclife and nothing better - because the people who have not blown themselves into porkers yet can turn them down for work?
Yeah...
48 - Nancy
I've spent my life - literally, my whole, entire life - doing nothing but diet. I went on my first diet when I was 14 months old. I can certainly tell y'all it was not my idea. Not at that age. Most recently, I had 90% of my stomach removed in a desperate effort to lose weight, since diets & exercise no longer work. The irony of this whole situation is, I DON'T eat like a pig. I probably eat a helluva lot less than most "normal" people, but on me, 100 calories ingested = 1000 calories stored. I can actually gain weight on a 600-cal/day diet. It's been documented under controlled conditions. And I'm not alone. I don't know if it's brain chemicals, metabolism, DNA, or what, but something somewhere in my system is way fucking out of whack, and it isn't my fault or the result of a slovenly, lazy, or gluttonous lifestyle. For this, all my life I've been the target of ridicule, mockery, contempt, and abuse by ignorant, smug assholes like some of the people posting above (not you, Ruvy). Most people who are slightly or moderately overweight do overeat or mis-eat, or fail to exercise; but the ones who are morbidly obese usually have something severely & systemically wrong which is out of their control, yet they're the ones who bear the brunt of the worst abuse because they're also the most visible. When I'm at my most mean-spirited, I watch all those who used to make snide remarks about me now waddling their way out of Mickey D's, and I laugh because their own meanness has come home to roost, and I'm glad to see them getting more than a dose of their own, but most of the time I feel sorry for them, because society has no sympathy for anyone with a weight problem, as I know only too well.
Walk a mile in my shoes before you start making snotty remarks. Obesity has less to do with overeating than you know, far too often.
49 - DrPat
I had a motto long ago that will serve any job-seeker who is rejected because of appearance. (Whatever the rationale, rejection due to weight is exactly that.)
I offer it for those just starting out on their careers, who do not have impressive resumes and references to offset their weight: "Anyone who would reject me as an employee for such a trivial reason does not deserve to have me working for them."
That being said, sedentary jobs that mostly work the brain, selection of food that is calorie-high and easy to eat continuously, and an assortment of enticing leisure-time activities that are ALSO sedentary and linked to snacking are the most common underlying reasons for obesity.
Yes, it's true that genetics and injury are sometimes a root cause. Not often, but sometimes. Yes, it's true the most common reasons for being overweight have little to do with being lazy.
But the bottom line is, this is a problem that almost every fat person could fix by changing lifestyle. Perhaps we all need that credible threat -- DrPat in a Speedo.
Be afraid.
50 - Purple Tigress
Look at the cost. Is it cost effective to hire someone you know will have a higher risk of heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure among other problems?
Hiring a smoker has a similar risk factor.
The cost is in insurance, lost work days due to illness and possibly an early death.
As for the two tickets in an airplane scenario, if the person takes more room than the average seat provides and encroaches on the space of the person(s) in neighboring seat(s), then yes, the person should buy two tickets.
I do not feel that I owe my seat space to an obese person out of the kindness of my heart and I do not like to be squished in by a thoughtless obese person or a thoughtless normal sized person who just likes to invade other people's space.
This is not discrimination. This is considering the rights of the other person and the added responsibility of being obese.
Weight is partially genetics and partially lifestyle.
51 - what would jesus do
what if someone comes in for a job with piercings all over the place, very very educated but looks like a freak would you hire THEM?
there are some very ignorant people posting on here.. i have to kinda sit back and laugh though because those very same people who have to look down upon someone else is lacking in a very big part of their life.. you can be the richest person in the world but if you have to stomp on someone to feel better.. look in the mirror
52 - sr
Well, what can I say. Just looked in the mirror and saw a big piece of shit. Dont we all feel devine now.
NUKE THE BIG FAT FUCKS.
53 - Nancy
The comment about the piercings is especially germaine in fire & rescue personnel. A LOT of them have multiple piercings, etc. but it rather distresses patients, etc. to see someone with studs in their tongues, rightly or wrongly, even when that someone is the most competent lifesaver in the world, and is busy saving THEM. So almost universally, while on duty, they leave the piercings off. I wish one could do the same with excess weight.
It's reported that Helena Rubenstein once criticized her secretary for having a fat butt. "Well, aren't you lucky that's not the part I think with!" the brave woman replied.
Nuff said.
54 - what would jesus do
if a very well dressed CLASSY overweight woman applied for a job would you hire her?.. because just because someone is overweight does not mean they cannot be classy i.e Monique, Queen Latifa. What i have seen in my line of work is a smaller woman is more apt to sleep her way to the top.. and to me that does not spell CLASS. Not to say ANY woman or man for that matter woulden't do such things to "gain sucess". but i have seen more women with nice figures use that to get to the top and to me if you cant use your accomplishments or expertice, then what good are you anyway!!!!!!!
55 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Sleeping one's way to the top is elevating oneself thorough one's high ambition through a lower level of operations...
If it's the smaller women who seem to sleep their way to the top, what does that say for womans' "liberation?" Using sex to icrease one's income is prostitution, in my eyes.
56 - what would jesus do
one of my points (#55) so are we looking down on BOTH women (or men) who are overweight, AND who prostitue themselves, or just the overweight? I think it is totally stupid.. and for the man who says he just flat out told the person who applied for a job at his company that the reason that he would not hire them was because they were to fat.. i dont believe that for a minute.. i dont care if your the ceo of the company.. i would have sued him so quick he would have not have known what hit him.. i think some people on here are telling "tall tales" TRYING to keep their foot on the necks of the people who are already down... but in the end you will have to stand in account for ALL of your actions.. keep that in mind
57 - sr
Nuke the unborn gay golden archers.
58 - Jet in Columbus
What is it with you and nuking unborn gay things?
59 - sr
Was wondering when you would ask that question.
60 - sr
Just interesting from AP. COMPANIES MARKET BIGGER SEATS, STOOLS, UMBRELLAS AND EVEN CASKETS TO THE OBESE. Obesity has found its niche in American marketing. Make that a wide berth.
Im looking at this photo of a goliath casket made by Goliath Caskets, at a Lynn, Ind, shop. You could put Kong in the puppy. Now we have baby seats, doorways, and vacation resorts for those embarrassed to be seen in a bathing suit. Wonder if they wear thongs. YUM. At Freedom Paradise on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, the chairs are wider and without arms, to prevent getting stuck, the beds are king-sized and reinforced, to prevent collapsing, and the beach is private and secluded, to prevent gawking and staring. Who in the hell would plan a trip just to watch a beach of blubber. Then we have William Fabrey, whose online business offers larger versions of everday things from umbrellas to footstools. You can't just yell at someone and tell them to lose weight. They still have to sit down on a chair that doesn't collapse. Well Duh. Who is at falt hear. Fabrey also sells lotion applicators and sponges attached to handles-enabling the user to reach all parts of the body, handbooks on hygiene with tips on dealing with odor problems, chafing and irritations caused by skin folds. Hey, Im not making this shit up. Check it out yourselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study shows the United States is becomming a country of fat people. No shit Sherlock. Why do I only see big fat butts in the electric carts at most food stores, Kmart, Walmart, Fatmart or whatever. Just check out your local buffet. It's a cheap way to whale watch. And dont tell me this is a gene thing. In some studies thats true about 1/2 of 000001%.
61 - trueleighme
It is so unreal to read these rude comments about overweight women. Hmmm . . . I know every pregnant woman out there or woman who has been pregnant can tell you that the body changes dramatically after you give birth. GENETICs determine how your body recovers some of us don't win the thin lotto. I have Hypothyroidism, as does everyone is my family. So whether I literally starve myself with a low calorie diet or exercise till I'm blue in the face, I do not lose weight. In other words, my "Metabolism" is basically non-existent. I am a size 16 and I accept it. I eat healthy, hike and walk my dogs twice a day.
But according to you -- I am overweight so I must be "lazy." Shame on you all who think it's okay to judge on appearances.
62 - FatKatLuvr
This a copy of a two part post I left at another blog-site about a study done in England, about whether men prefer heavier woman to smaller women, when they are hungry.Here's my first post:
This study is "hogwash", for lack of a better word.Ok people let's get down to the nitty-gritty and be for real. Fat attraction is simply that, an attraction , very much like someone being attracted to "red-heads" or "blondes". How do I know this? Because I am a genuine 100% Fat Admirer or F.A. of the first order and a "chubbychaser" as well. I've been attracted to large women and large men (350-500lbs.) all my life , I have never been with a "small" or "thin" woman ever, and I don't want to be. I've never been attracted to thin women. People like me, men and women who are attracted to larger individuals, basicly find them more appealing. For some of us it is a very innate attraction, while others gain this attraction through the trials and errors of "searching for the one". To put it plainly, I find fat women, large women,supersize or ultrasize women , more appealing because they represent the feminine form in all it's glory.Ample, abundant, and ripe. My attraction to large men stems from that same attraction, it's about the similarities in form (bellies,legs,chests,buttocks, in some) not the genitals.
The thing that gets me is that other people want to say that large people are "out of shape". But that's not so, being an artist myself, if you really think about it large people are really "full of shape".
There is no "one" reason for this attraction. But this study is really way in left field from the truth. And before you ask,no my mother isn't a large woman, she's 5'5", 115-120lbs., a petite lady. My attraction doesn't stem from some mental condition connected to my childhood. Although, I will say that I do know that my attraction to both heavyset women and heavyset men is in some ways connected to the television show "HEE-HAW". I came to that realization about three years ago. I'm 36 yrs. old. My attraction to large men didn't surface until I was 16 yrs. old, my attraction to large women was always apparent to me.
Hungry or not, I'm attracted to heavier women simply because I am. Large women are women (of a high weight) and not "clinical case studies". What should be put under study is why in a so called civilized world do we allow people to be so uncivilized to each other. The discrimination of fat people is the last
"safe prejudice" and should be stopped. Being rude and cruel is not a matter of opinion it's a matter of not treating each other in a respectful and humane manner. The lack of basic manners has lost it's place in some of our lives. That's the real epidemic. Peace and tranquility be with you all.
63 - FatKatLuvr
And here is my second post at that same blog-site I think this would add to this discussion or debate if you will.:
Okay. Let me clear up the "confused". You feel better because it's the way YOU feel. Each person's health is individually different and personal. What you feel may not be what someone else would feel. What is obvious is that a lot of manipulation has gone unchecked for the past 25 years. The diet industry has gone for a $10 million dollars a year (1980's)to a $25-$30 million dollars a year (late 1980's to early 1990's) to $45 million dollars a year (late 1990's) to $55.5-$60 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR (2000 to current)industry. This did not occur because of any real increase in the number of large people in this country, it happened because of the early marketing tactics used in the 1980's catering to the baby boomers who were looking for ways to keep the natural progression of aging from hitting home. Naturally it was also successful in gaining the monetary attention of the generations that followed by employing new and more sensational "health scare tactics". The increase was boosted by the fashion gurus who saw a niche in selling their products as a sort of new "fountain of youth". The diet industry would reinvent itself to keep up with the fashion industry by offering "the magic pill". The medical forum jumped on the band wagon with it's "quick-fix" in the form of bariatric surgery (practiced since the 1950's) and it's eventual Frankensteinian offsprings:Lapband, Fobi Pouch,Stomach Stapling and Gastric bypass. Gastric bypass being a retooling of the aforementioned commonplace bariatric surgical procedure. One hand feeding the other so on and so forth.
Don't get me wrong there ARE sick people here but not for the reasons you've been led to believe. First of all let's get one myth out of the way. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A DISEASE OR ILLNESS CAUSED BY BEING FAT.
Take it in slowly. Breathe deeply. Now wait, there's more. If you have an illness that is inherent, being fat will complicate it but it didn't cause it. Fact. Most people are led to believe that all fat people are sufferers of heart illnesses, breathing problems and arthritis but that is just not so. There are hundreds of thousands of "TRULY" fat people that work, exercise and are truly activity individuals trying to survive in a world that perceives them as diseased simply on the basis of their appearance.
Because that appearance has been "deemed" unacceptable by other individuals in powerful positions of social and economic influence, who stand to lose a whole lot of money if certain true facts were exposed to the general populance of this planet.
True facts such as that size does not denote the level of health. That the only amount of exercise any one person needs is at least 45 minutes of some cardiovascular activity,in order to get the blood circulating and heart pumping good. That eating a variety of foods and not excluding certain foods and only concentrating on only one food , will decrease a person's chance for developing diabetes. Although, this doen't apply to those born with diabetic conditions to start with and those with the chance of inherent diabetes can offset those chances by doing the above actions.
All of this can be achieved at ANY weight. It's not a matter of losing weight but instead it's a matter of being healthy no matter what an individual weighs. Fact: 99.9% of all diet programs fail after the first year. Why? Because a level of expectation has been set too high, that it's actually unrealistic to achieve and inhuman to function therein.I know what you going to say next:What about the epidemic?!
Simple. THERE IS NO EPIDEMIC. What?! Right, NO EPI-DEM-IC. Take another deep breathe. Exhale. Here's the gem: For the past 30 years doctors and scientist have tried to hint at that being fat was "like" a disease.Up until last year scientist had been trying their darnedest to figure out how to: 1.Find the "fat gene", 2.Find a way to control the fat gene or take it out altogether, and 3.Figure how it works and how it came to be at all. Well, they succeeded in finding the "fat gene". They tried to manipulate it by isolating certain chemicals found in the body (of lab mice) connected with the fat gene. Problems came up and it was determined that the chemical or chemicals were not to be tampered with because they were actually essential to the body and if tampered with, it would prove deadly. They worked with drug companies to create a number of "weight-loss" miracle pills that eventually panned out to be disasterous.While in the meantime,published reports would arise about how low-fat and low-carb intake would help. That bombed.
Ever since 9/11 haven't you seen how the number of new diet solutions have come and gone. Don't you look at the newspaper and see articles about how being fat is bad for you and then turn the page and there's an article saying that maybe being fat isn't as bad as they thought. This kind of back and forward switch-a-roo has been going on since the 1980's. It became worse after 9/11 because as the country became more depressed and obsesssed about attacks and the war abroad, the growing concerns about President Bush's abilities and actions came into question. What better way to shift public attention then to concentrate on physical appearances and so called "health concerns".
Every time the scientist failed at something about fat, there was a counter measure put in place in order to get the public's attention away from the war and other political issues by coming up with new data from seemingly "ghost studies" conducted. But these so called studies and statistics are not really accurate because a lot of them are conducted in only a cross section of the country namely the mid-west and then calculations are created by using census information in combination with demographic information and established past ethnic health background stereo-types or "markers". These so called statistics are then retooled whenever someome outside of the medical and scientific community reveals inconsistencies in the data. Haven't you noticed the increase in diet and weight loss surgery commercials after the whole "fen-phen" diet pill went bust. This was a major blow and they had to bounce back quickly,so they came up some new pills and a new theme "low-carb". The "low-carb" craze faded quicker then a gravy stain treated with SHOUT. So,another tactic was used rehashing the term BMI(body mas index, established during the 1950's) and deciding to redesign the old "height and weight charts" -(created by insurance companies back in the 1950's as a way not to give insurance to people of a higher weight range),they kept it going.Well, they had to add a new bonus round.Since they knew that people were getting fed up with all this back and forth they shouted- "YOUR CHILDREN ARE BECOMING FAT". The creation of a new wave of hysteria was born.
What I'm getting at is the percentage of fat people (adults and children)HAS NOT CHANGED IN THE LAST 15 YEARS. What HAS occurred is that in the last 6 years we have become more aware of fat people because they have been targeted not only by the diet,fashion,medical industries but by the increasing public indulgance for scandal and morbid "reality" entertainment.Because of our society's need for up to the minute information and increasing interest into the lives of perfect strangers, large people have become the unwitting "neo-sideshow".By changing what was once deemed the "middle-age spread" or even "baby fat" into the "OBESITY EPIDEMIC",it meant keeping the money rolling in. Now EVERYONE is "obese", except for the truly thin (deemed healthier simply because they are thin).
The "nail in the coffin" came last year when scientist announced "OBESITY IS A DISEASE". This was a sorry excuse for not being upfront and stating the simple truth:THE "FAT GENE" IS A NATURE OCCURRING GENE WITHIN THE HUMAN DNA STRAND AND CHROMOSONE SYSTEMS. IT IS A MULTIFACETED GENE EXPRESSING ITSELF IN SOME PEOPLE WHILE NOT DOING SO IN OTHERS. THERE ARE A MULTITUDE OF FACTORS THAT CAN SOMEHOW ACTIVATE THIS GENE TO EXPRESS ITSELF IN RADICAL WAYS THUS CAUSING HIGHER LEVELS OF "FATNESS" IN SOME PEOPLE.WE ARE UNABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHY. THE LEVEL OF FATNESS DOES NOT EQUATE TO THE LEVEL OF HEALTH THAT AN INDIVIDUAL MAY POSSESS. EACH PERSON IS DIFFERENT AND EACH PERSON'S LEVEL OF HEATLH SHOULD BE APPROACHED ACCORDINGLY.
So now we are in the time of "THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC", a time where anyone even five pounds over their "true weight" is considered "overweight" and "OBESE"! Since last year's proclaimations, doctor's all across this country have been given free reign to cut up not only people who really may need weigh-loss surgery but also those who just want to fit into their old elementary school clothes. It's crazy. Oh, I'm sure you've seen all the shows where there's some "obese" man or woman stuck in their home and can't get out. Let me say that those are extreme cases and are simply put in the news to create sensationalism otherwise if it were a "thin"person trapped at home it wouldn't make the local news least of all the national news. Let's get back to some basic mindsets:Everyone is different. Just because a person fat doesn't make them unhealthy, nor does make them healthy. Health is relative time and habits.Let's try to truly aspire to be the country we claim to be, a country where diversity is respected and accepted. And what could be more diverse then thin people and large people,short people, tall people, mean people, and happy people. I think we need to work on more happy people then worrying about whether Mr. or Mrs.So & So wears a size 29 or a size 79. Respect the differences and know that a person's health is their personal business and making judgements based on physical appearance is petty. Just couple these comments with my previous comments in #5 and have a wonderful "healthier" life. FatLuvingly, FatKatLuvr
64 - FatKatLuvr
Not everyone in this country can get up to the higher ranges of Large that exist. So, it is a false statement by the so called authorities that America is becoming Fat. Fat people have always been here and they always will be. The fact is everyone is going to get ill at some point in their lives and to deny anyone the right to employment or the right to proper medical care is wrong. There is no gurantee that if you hire a thinner person that they won't become ill nor do you know the severity of it, which means still paying more for longer hospital time or treatment depending on the situation. Being fat has nothing to with it . Point blank.
Just like this whole OBESITY EPIDEMIC crap. Don't you see the problem staring you in the face isn't really there at all. Sure there are some fat kids out there but how do you know who is going to be a fat adult or not. You can't know. So, it's logical to presume that some of those kids will out grow their fatness and some won't. It has always been that way and it hasn't changed. It's really common sense.
The reason there "seems" to be more large individuals has more to do with the increases in the population per increased birth rate. The everyday on- slaught of commercials and medical news flashes are just a number of the tools used to keep this hysteria going. I, for one, intend to help put a stop to all this manipulation, bashing and obsession. The fact is that the medical forum and insurance companies have worked together and changed information on purpose, in order to justify what they are currently doing. They are giving you what they think you want to see and you are falling for it, graciously and willingly.
To SR : William J. Fabrey is a living legend. In 1969, he founded the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance or N.A.A.F.A. It is a support group design to help larger individuals gain self-esteem in an otherwise hostile environment. Since then he has established a business that provides medical information and supplies that can be used by everyone including people of size. He publishes articles on changes in the mainstream towards larger individuals and how it effects all our lives. William J. Fabrey is a pioneer and has been a strong contributor to the size acceptance community and movement.
To everyone here and beyond, know this: Everything isn't as it seems nor is it as bleak. Everyone will find this out in time. But for now the battle has started and soon the wars will follow. Are you a voluminarian or a scantiodist?
65 - FatKatLuvr
Read and learn:
Thursday, 7 January, 1999, 20:30 GMT
"Born to be fat"
The mouse that cannot help but eat
It was one of those discoveries that forced its way out of the scientific journals and into the public consciousness.
In 1994, researchers gave obese mice a hormone called leptin. The rodents, which had had an insatiable appetite, started to lose weight. "The results of the injections were pretty profound," says Professor Jeffery Friedman from the Rockefeller University, who carried out the research.
"The mice lost 30% of their weight after two weeks and 40% of their weight after four weeks."
Pictures of the mice were wired around the world. It seemed at last that a quick fix for obesity had been found.
Diets do not work for many people
Wall Street went mad and the patent for leptin was purchased by a biotechnology company for millions of dollars.
Others working in obesity research shared that same sense of excitement. "As one read it, the dawning realisation that this was a seminal discovery came upon one," recalls Professor Stephen O'Rahilly from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK.
"What went through my mind was that may be we had got our first handle on understanding what the molecules are that control body weight. It was wonderfully exciting."
Complicated picture
However, researchers quickly discovered that many fat people had high levels of leptin and giving them more would have little effect. Even when O'Rahilly successfully treated a nine-year-old child weighing 95 kilos (15 stones) whose body, like the fat mice, could not make its own leptin, scientists knew the problem in front of them was a very complicated one.
Leptin is produced by the fat cells. It travels through the blood where it reaches a part of the brain called the hypothalamus - it carries a message to stop eating. The signal is picked up and passed along a network of neurons, killing those pangs of hunger.
However, it is now clear that the message can be corrupted - just one faulty gene can block the pathway. New research has focussed on the brain chemicals - neuropeptides - which also play a role in regulating the desire to eat.
Just before Christmas, American researchers announced the first thin mouse - an animal predisposed to lose weight because it lacked the gene that coded for a neuropeptide called melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH).
The mouse did not want to eat even though the low levels of leptin in its body must have been telling the brain it was hungry. There was clearly a short-circuit in the messaging system.
Research revolution
Although the initial excitement over leptin has not delivered a wonder cure for obesity, the importance of its discovery should not be underestimated. For the first time, it showed there are genetic reasons why some people become very fat.
Fatty food: Western societies cannot resist it
Obesity does not necessarily equal greed and laziness. There are some men and mice who cannot help the way they are. "It's quite obvious to me that there must be some individuals who are born with a more intense or less intense appetite than others and put in the right situation or the wrong situation - abundant access to food - those individuals born with greater appetite drive are much more likely to become obese," says Professor O'Rahilly.
Leptin has led to a revolution in the study of why some of us are fat and others of us are thin. And this new approach really does open up the prospect of more effective means of weight control than those pointless yo-yo diets. "The excitement of the last four years in obesity research can't be exaggerated," says Professor O'Rahilly.
"As a physician, I think we will be able to identify specific types of obesity that we may be able to actually treat. And I think on a societal level, the understanding that obesity can have fundamental genetic causes and is not always due to moral failing may permeate society and we may treat obese people differently."
The story of leptin is told on the BBC Science programme Horizon. Born To Be Fat is broadcast on BBC Two at 2130 GMT on Thursday, 7 January, 1999.
66 - FatKatLuvr
Print Email
Last Update: Friday, January 28, 2005. 2:18pm (AEDT)
A US study found obese people spent more time sitting than leaner people. (AFP)
Fidgeting may keep you thin: study
Obese people spend more time sitting than leaner persons, who tend to fidget and move more and in the process burn more calories.
A study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, a research organisation based in Minnesota, found obese people may have a biological need to sit down.
On average, obese people spend 2.5 hours more in a chair than their leaner peers and end up burning 350 fewer calories a day.
The study is in the January 28 edition of the journal Science.
Sensors placed in the clothing of 10 obese and 10 lean people allowed researchers to track their movements.
In the second phase of the study, the lean people were overfed by 1,000 calories a day to make them gain weight while the fatter people were underfed by 1,000 daily calories.
But the underfed obese group still spent more time sitting and moved less than the overfed lean group.
Scientists say the study shows obese people have low non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).
"[This] means they have a biological need to sit more," James Levine, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist who led the study, said.
- AFP
67 - FatKatLuvr
Overweight patients to be refused hip replacements
Back Published on : Thu, 24 Nov 2005 12:05
By : Richard Owen
Obese people will not be eligible for hip and knee replacements on the National Health Services (NHS) in East Suffolk. General Practitioners (GPs) and consultants will not refer anyone who falls in the category of obese to a specialist. This is a measure employed to save the trusts money worth £47.9 million earmarked for this area.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), people having a body mass in excess of 30 are classified as obese.
This decision was agreed upon by local doctors in the areas of Suffolk Coastal, Ipswich, and Central Suffolk. It is also considered risky to anaesthetise patients who are overweight. Public Care Trust, which manages three-quarters of the NHS budget, has given the go-ahead. This body issues guidance to doctors on treatments as and when required.
Doctors have the option to decide to not treat patients if a particular procedure could place them at more risk or wouldn’t be beneficiary at all.
Dr Brian Keeble, the Director of Public Health for Ipswich PCT said: “Patients who are overweight and obese do worse after operations. Lighter people tend to do better in terms of hip replacements not failing.” Dr. Keeble, who is the head of the cost-cutting measures that also included nine other procedures, added: “We cannot pretend that this work wasn't stimulated by pressing financial problems.”
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- obesity
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But, this is going to raise hackles of approximately 20 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women who are fall under ‘obese’ category, in addition to their relatives and close friends. That the decision was taken more for financial reasons than clinical ones has irked quite a few people.
The Patients Association protested saying that it is unfair if patients are rejected treatment on any grounds other than medical.
A spokesperson for Department of Health said: “It is the role of primary care trusts to ensure that taxpayers' money is used for maximum clinical effect and to best serve the needs of their local patients. Any actions that trusts take to manage to reduce deficits should not lower the quality of care provided to NHS patients.”
A poll held this week by BUPA, the private health provider, which questioned 2,000 persons, revealed that over 33 per cent felt that people who are obese or either smoke or drink should be charged for medical treatment. Eight per cent said these people should be denied treatment altogether.
This scenario may be ideal for the 33% who show little compassion however for the public who this affects then questions must be asked as to why pay tax and national insurance contributions to a government or NHS who then, if and when is required to pay out, refuses. It also questions whether smokers should be treated, alcoholics, drug addicts? where does it end.
The explanation given is that people need to lose weight in order for the operation to have a better chance of success; the same can easily apply to drug addiction, alcohol addiction, car accident victims, after all they didn't have to go shopping in the car, they can order online! Well, if they shop online, they get no exercise by walking to the car so better ban the internet too.. Why introduce 24 hour drinking laws, why encourage people to drink if this too will cost the NHS more as weekends at any A&E are always busy; if alcohol was banned then one would assume that the £ billions it costs the NHS would be massively reduced.
Of course these are extreme arguments, hopefully bordering on silly and things, which simply won't happen but can be applied to many scenarios; the issue though that tax payers cannot get treatment after contributing for decades in some cases seems equally extreme.
It seems ridiculous and another example of how a poorly managed and funded health service is attempting to simply save money from a group who are easy targets with little public sympathy.
What would happen in these Trust areas or in the UK if the public adopted a solidarity style approach and stopped funding the NHS by withholding tax and taking them to Court? Perhaps a system of private only healthcare needs to be investigated where the public fund their own medical bills, therefore not paying tax and seeing their money going into a health service, which seems to get worse, not better, despite increases in funding.
The underlying issue is management and of course funding of the NHS, policies such as this, contrived because the Trusts involved are so heavily in debt have been condemned by many. How much do asylum seekers, non UK nationals and immigrants cost the NHS? If a British Citizen needs a hip replacement or knee replacement they should get it. If funds are unavailable then the NHS as a whole needs to be looked at, as it is not a National Health Service at all.
68 - FatKatLuvr
I'm in this for the long haul, so notice.
69 - Christopher Rose
FatKatLuvr: Please post your own thoughts, not paste in those of others. Thank you. Comments Editor
70 - FatKatLuvr
Can Being Fit Outweigh Fat?
It's Possible to Be Obese and Healthy, Experts Say
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 26, 2004; Page A01
At 5-foot-4 and 190 pounds, Jude Mathews would seem to personify the health crisis facing a nation in the throes of an obesity epidemic. But the librarian from Evanston, Ill., begs to differ.
"My blood pressure is rock solid. My cholesterol numbers are basically fine. My doctors don't see anything they say I need to worry about," said Mathews, who is 55, exercises regularly and eats a well-balanced diet. "One little number on the scale is not all there is to your health."
"I wouldn't mind losing weight, but I know if I go on a weight-loss diet I'll just spring right back," says Jude Mathews, a librarian. "What is really dangerous is yo-yo dieting, not to mention destroying people's self-esteem." (John Gress For The Washington Post)
_____Obesity_____
• Plan to Be Successful (The Washington Post, Nov 30, 2004)
• N.Y. Creates Site on Obesity, Insurance (Associated Press, Nov 27, 2004)
• CDC Admits Errors in Obesity Risk Study (Associated Press, Nov 24, 2004)
• CDC Study Overestimated Deaths From Obesity (The Washington Post, Nov 24, 2004)
• CDC Admits Errors in Obesity Risk Study (Associated Press, Nov 23, 2004)
• More Stories
_____Health Calculators_____
How do your meals add up? Calculate calories and fat at fast-food restaurants.
• Calorie Counter
• Body Mass Index
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• Past Lean Plate Club Columns
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_____Full Coverage_____
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As medical authorities have become increasingly alarmed by the rapidly rising number of Americans who are overweight and obese, people such as Mathews find themselves at the center of an intense debate: Can people be overweight but still healthy?
In books, in medical journals and at public health conferences, scientists have been dueling over the relative importance of fatness vs. fitness, and whether there is any common ground between the two camps. A small but vocal cadre of researchers has been challenging conventional wisdom, arguing that not only is it possible to be both fat and fit, but fitness is actually more important for health.
"All too often, medical professionals say it's the obesity we have to cure. That's the be-all and end-all. It's not," said Steven N. Blair, who heads the Cooper Institute, a Dallas research foundation focused on physical activity. "The impression is that everyone who is overweight faces an elevated risk for mortality. That's simply not true."
Other experts, however, maintain that while there may be exceptions, the evidence is clear for most people: Being overweight significantly increases the risk of a host of debilitating and often deadly health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, cancer and diabetes.
"Being overweight has a clear association with important health problems, and even modest weight loss has important health benefits," said Walter Willett, an expert on nutrition and health at the Harvard School of Public Health. "To tell people it doesn't matter is really misleading. It does make a difference. It makes a huge difference."
Playing down the risks of excess weight is dangerous, Willett and others say, particularly with two-thirds of Americans already overweight, including one-third who are officially obese.
"I would not want to switch the emphasis away from trying to control weight," said Lawrence J. Cheskin, director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center. "That's a clear risk factor."
Blair and other fitness proponents acknowledge that some overweight people are at increased risk for health problems, and that many people may benefit from losing weight. But they argue that society focuses far too much on dropping pounds and far too little on exercise, eating well and being physically fit.
"I don't believe height and weight is a good indication of health," said Joanne Ikeda, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California at Berkeley. "If a fat person or obese person has normal blood pressure, if their total cholesterol and glucose levels are normal and they are healthy, there is no reason they should necessarily have to lose weight."
Many people are simply born to be bigger, which does not necessarily mean they are destined to have health problems because of their weight, especially if they exercise regularly and eat well, she said.
"There is a subset of people who are meant to be large people," Ikeda said. "If they are in fact 'obese' but they are metabolically healthy, their bodies are constructed in a way that carrying a large amount of weight is not deleterious."
The increased health risks blamed on being overweight are really the result of many overweight people being out of shape and having poor diets and other unhealthful habits, Blair and others say. If those factors are considered, studies have found that any increased risk virtually disappears, they say.
We've studied this from many perspectives in women and in men and we get the same answer: It's not the obesity -- it's the fitness," Blair said. "Fitness can substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the high risk of being obese."
Ikeda tests people to see if they are "metabolically healthy." If she spots warning signs, she recommends exercise and a nutritious diet, but with the goal of making people fitter, not necessarily thinner.
"I wouldn't mind losing weight, but I know if I go on a weight-loss diet I'll just spring right back," says Jude Mathews, a librarian. "What is really dangerous is yo-yo dieting, not to mention destroying people's self-esteem." (John Gress For The Washington Post)
_____Obesity_____
• Plan to Be Successful (The Washington Post, Nov 30, 2004)
• N.Y. Creates Site on Obesity, Insurance (Associated Press, Nov 27, 2004)
• CDC Admits Errors in Obesity Risk Study (Associated Press, Nov 24, 2004)
• CDC Study Overestimated Deaths From Obesity (The Washington Post, Nov 24, 2004)
• CDC Admits Errors in Obesity Risk Study (Associated Press, Nov 23, 2004)
• More Stories
_____Health Calculators_____
How do your meals add up? Calculate calories and fat at fast-food restaurants.
• Calorie Counter
• Body Mass Index
_____Sally Squires_____
• Past Lean Plate Club Columns
• Lean Plate Club Discussion Transcripts
_____Full Coverage_____
• Fitness News and Resources
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"What weight-loss programs promote are diets that are so low in calories that people are constantly fatigued, and then they have a hard time getting out there to exercise, which is really what will help them," Ikeda said. "How stupid is that?"
The focus on weight loss is especially misguided because most people simply are unable to lose substantial weight and keep it off, Ikeda, Blair and others say.
"I'm a short, fat guy myself," Blair said. "I'd like to be thinner. I'm not saying people shouldn't try to lose weight. But we're not getting anywhere with all the focus on obesity -- shouting from the rooftops how bad obesity is. So if the strategy is not working, it seems to me we ought to be thinking about different strategies."
Becoming fit is often much more attainable, Blair and others say.
"If you take a fat person who has all these health problems that have been labeled weight-related health problems and put them on an exercise program and clean up their diet, their health generally improves yet their body weight hasn't budged much," said Glenn A. Gaesser, a University of Virginia physiologist who wrote "Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health," a book that questions many assumptions about obesity. "It's far easier to get a fat person fit than to get a fat person thin."
Mathews, the Illinois librarian, takes dance, Pilates and tai chi classes several nights a week and lifts weights to stay fit, and watches what she eats to stay healthy.
"I wouldn't mind losing weight, but I know if I go on a weight-loss diet I'll just spring right back," Mathews said. "What is really dangerous is yo-yo dieting, not to mention destroying people's self-esteem."
The obsession with weight also risks prompting people to overreact, some say.
"We have yuppie parents putting their kids on diets just because they gain a few pounds," Ikeda said. "We see adolescent girls obsessed with obtaining the so-called ideal body image. We see people smoking, abusing laxatives and taking all sorts of extreme measures."
Another danger is that the emphasis on weight may be misleading thin people about their health.
"If someone is in what is considered the normal range, they think they don't have to exercise and can eat whatever they want," Gaesser said.
Willett and others acknowledge that fitness is important and that overweight people benefit from exercise and eating better even without losing weight. But they argue that a careful analysis of many large studies has shown a clear, independent relationship between excess weight and increased risk for health problems.
"When you look at the data carefully, you find that people who are active and lean have the lowest mortality of all," Willett said.
And many obesity researchers take issue with the contention that most overweight people cannot lose weight.
"People can lose weight. They do lose weight," said Arthur Frank, a weight expert at George Washington University. "I've seen people who are indolent in their health habits and they lose weight and their blood pressure comes down and their cholesterol comes down and they feel wonderful, even without doing any exercise."
Willett is also concerned that turning the focus away from weight will keep people from being vigilant about preventing weight gain in the first place, which is the most effective strategy.
"One of the big problems is by the time people become overweight or obese it's very hard for them to become active. They've developed arthritis or other problems that makes it hard, which is why we have to pay attention to weight early on," Willett said.
Despite the intensity of the debate, Willett, Frank, Blair, Gaesser and others have been trying to find common ground, with each side emphasizing that the two ideas are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The best strategy would be to encourage people to exercise regularly and eat well. Some will lose weight, some won't, but all will benefit from getting as much exercise as possible and becoming more physically fit and possibly trimming down in the process.
"This is something that really shouldn't be a debate of one versus the other," Willett said. "It's clear that both fitness and fatness are important. It's definitely good to be as fit as possible no matter what your body weight. But it's also clear that it is optimum to be both lean and fit. It shouldn't be a question of one or the other."
71 - FatKatLuvr
My First two post to this site are MY own thoughts and words. I simply felt it would be of interest to show examples that back up what I have said. Which is no different then what everyone else here has done in some way. My approach is different but not unfounded. I sense a very discriminating tone. And that is unacceptable to me. The #70 will be my last long post but it won't be my last post. MR. Rose.
72 - Christopher Rose
The normal convention is to post a link to external material you are referencing whilst adding your own thoughts. Feel free to post as much as you wish in that way.
73 - FatKatLuvr
Mr. Rose,
Post #64 ,are also my direct personal words and thoughts, if you would take the time to actually read them instead of trying count how many post I've left. That's the point of the posts. To be read. I thought personal attacks were prohibited here?
74 - FatKatLuvr
Then It's settled. I will learn how to add links to external info with my posts, if warranted. Thank you Mr. Rose for your input.
75 - Christopher Rose
Thank you very much, FatKatLuvr. There is a very clear explanation on how to make active links to be found on htmlcodetutorial.com