someonecompletelyrandom

I didnt mean medical condition as in it's caused by genetics. Being obese is a medical condition, however, no matter what the cause is. In the United States, there seems to b a direct link between poverty, or general low income households, and obesity. Fattening, processed foods are what's cheapest in this country. I have some relatives who are quite overweight and I can quite plainly see that it's because they've been raised on cheap, processed foods.

Do you know any overweight or obese people? If so, I think you should let them in on your "you need to actively try to be overweight." theory. That should be fun

For women, another factor to be considered is giving birth. It can be difficult to lose that extra girth after having children. My mother raised three kids in a lower income, hectic environment. She's now in her 40s and is struggling to lose weight even with proper dieting and daily exercise.

midnight rain

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/op...aper.html?_r=2

Laziness carries through to other aspects of life. People who are lazy when it comes to exercise, are lazy when it comes to actually cooking a proper meal, rather than sticking it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Like the article I posted says, organic food is not the end all be all of healthy food and people need to realize this.

The Fascinating Turnip

There you go.

Exactly. My mother barely eats anything other than rather healthy "home made" salads and soups and exercises every single day and she can barely lose any weight. She's only very slightly overweight, if at all, but the fact is that she would probably have to apply a much greater deal of effort than is demandable by anyone to lose weight, and I imagine that this is the case of a lot of people who are obese. I see a lot of people who are thin and basically live off of fast food and don't exercise that openly judge "fat" people, and I find that absolutely ridiculous.

The poverty issue was quite well pointed out as well. Processed foods are ultimately cheaper and people who have a low income tend to choose them over healthier and ultimately more expensive foods. Add to this the fact that a lot of people slave away all day (and not necessarily in such a way that involves physical effort) and might not have time to exercise, and you've got a quite decent explanation of why a few people are overweight. Does it make sense to judge these people? Only if you can put yourself in their shoes and say with absolute certainty that you would still eat properly and exercise often.

midnight rain

Thin doesn't necessarily mean healthy and it is still dependent on how many calories your taking in a day. These thin people are probably only eating fast food and end up getting around 2000-2500 calories a day. The day will come where it catches up with them.

See my previous post.
Not sure what your implications are here. Healthy people have lives and jobs too, they choose to prioritize what's important in life. If you're ok with being overweight and unhealthy then it's your choice to live with. But people would do better if they stopped blaming it on slow metabolism, or being big boned. Why does everyone need an excuse in life?

Paedantic Basterd

I wonder if we would encourage alcoholics to change their lifestyles for the better by berating them and accusing them?

midnight rain

I'd want them to accept responsibility for their actions, same as overweight people. I don't see any berating going on here.

I don't have shoes on, and walking on eggshells without shoes makes my feet hurt

someonecompletelyrandom

Firstly, that article makes quite a few innacurate claims. The author has either never been to a supermarket, or he has an agenda to push. Nearly every item found in an American super market is processed heavily–even the meat. Yes, you could buy fresh lettuce and broccoli for a salad, but as UB mentions above–people with low income certainly don't earn their menial salary by laying around. People with low incomes are, generally speaking, working very hard to provide for their families. They're anything but lazy.

Guybrush

Of course not, but that doesn't mean there isn't choice and responsibility. If an alcoholic says "I can't help it, my genes make me an alcoholic", then that's just a way to avoid responsibility. It's not your choice, just the way you were born. That attitude is something I sometimes find hard to respect in others.

People should take responsibility, even if it's by saying "I'm overweight because of my lifestyle and I'm OK with that". That I can respect.

__________________
Something Completely Different

Paedantic Basterd

I do see a lot of generalizations being made by people who don't have a complete grasp of the topic, because they've never had to deal with the issue firsthand.

There is no one thing that leads to being overweight, and no one cure-all for it. People need encouragement, not blame. How it happened is irrelevant. Focus on how to help someone in the present.

midnight rain

The supermarket is filled with healthy foods, like canned tuna and peanut butter are very healthy for you and require no cooking at all.

It's not that difficult, avoid TV dinners.