Fatties

[sobrique]

OK, so the news has been recently filled with "the obesity epidemic". As something of a fat man myself, it's a subject near and dear to my heart.

I'd like to share my perspective. I assume you want to hear it, because you clicked that cut.

It's very simple. Getting fat is very very easy. Do you think anyone wants to be overweight? Not a chance. Well, I've yet to meet anyone who finds the Jabba the Hutt look massively sexy.

And there's also a pretty good chance that an overweight person would rather like to correct the problem.

People who are overweight are overweight for a reason. They are overweight because that little self regulatory mechanism that us primitive life forms use to regulate 'hungry/not hungry' doesn't work very well. Given that _actually_ being hungry is so damn uncommon here in the western world, that's hardly a suprise.

But there's usually something in the way, and actually there's a good chance it's you. Think about it for a moment - when was the last time you saw someone fat, and assumed they were lazy/stupid? That because you have an easy time 'not being overweight' then ... well, they're _doing it deliberately_ or something?

And after all, bullying someone for not conforming works SO WELL at making them do so. That's right. It is. And it DOES happen - I've run into it on quite a few occasions, and more than a few from people who I'd have thought knew better. Some of these were medical professionals, some acquaintances, and others 'random people in the gym'. (I found being told off for 'being overweight' by a fellow gym-goer to be particularly hilarious).

And then you've got the repeated waves of 'diets'. It's a cruel fact that every single 'diet program' out there is a lie. All of them are wrong. Diets aren't something you do for a few weeks to fit in a swimsuit - they're what you eat every day for the rest of your life. People selling you diet fads aren't interested in you maintaining a healthy weight - they want you to yo-yo, and each time by the 'new, improved remedy'. Diets are our snake oil.

So I'd put to you the notion that in this modern society, where 'getting enough calories to live' is completely trivial, that not being able to self-regulate effectively might as well be considered a form of handicap, as much as having a broken leg, or being diabetic. As deserving of aid and support as someone suffering depression or alcoholism.

Being overweight is something that can be treated and dealt with. People who _are_ overweight are generally not _wanting_ to be overweight, but they're also usually ... well, faced with stigma from society and derision because it's something that 'most' people find trivial. Not everyone can swim, or ride a bicycle. But they don't ever learn if every person bimbling past spits at them and tries to push them off their bike as they do.

So... just stop and think for a moment - Obesity is massively on the rise, and it's not because people happen to like being overweight. The vast majority however don't need 'drastic surgery' or radical therapies - they just need some comfort, support and good advice about what they're doing wrong.

It's actually quite easy to lose weight - IF you have the knowledge about what's going on, physiologically, and also the will to actually do it. That latter is very quickly eroded when people decide to give you a kick, because 'you're a fatty'.

Comments

[mcnazgul.livejournal.com]

Damn right.

It's always bemused me the self-righteous tone people take on over something that's often genetically pre-disposed. I mean, bitching someone out over their skin tone is completely unreasonable.

And yet...

Bitching someone out because they've got a hyperactive thyroid gland? Oh yeah, that's OK.

Making snide comments because someone's glucose metabolism happens to be efficient and they're fed sugar-filled stuff because they can't afford anything else? Sure, no problem...

And my personal favourite:

Telling someone they'll be fine if they exercise and expecting them to automagically transform into a more suitable weight and level of fitness because they've been told.

Shallow much?