Obesity discrimination

This is, unfortunately, where our countrys interest lies ~ in how obese we all are.  While, granted, we are one of the "thickest" countries around, I, personally, am quite sick of all the weight loss programs and pills they push on every other commercial (thank you Jared!).  I am not overweight, but we do have a McDonalds ritual every Friday.  We eat elsewhere and then my little one runs around the playplace while I have my coffee with my friends.  And basically, as irishgit points out, some people just need to learn how to say no!  BUT, I would not discriminate against someone with a weight problem.

Since I hit forty I've been fighting the thickening of age with varying success. However, I assume what we're talking about here is the Beluga look. Sorry folks, most are not glandular or big-boned, they just can't put the damn fork down and do a little exercise. It is an endemic situation in North America, with folks shoving down the fast food and the sugar and sitting on their collective asses and whining about their weight. I have been involved in minor sports for over 20 years, working with kids from 9 to 19. Each year it seems that there are more with obesity problems. Parents come whining to me asking what they can do about their kid's weight, and then tell me they're going to dinner at MacDonalds. Give your damn heads a shake folks. Yes, there are people with REAL medical reasons for obesity, but 90+ percent don't exercise or eat right. I find it hard to have sympathy with people who don't even try.

People think my friends and I are obese, while it's true we are over what most docters consider a healthy weight, "overweight" is a more apropriate term. I find it interesting that mainstreme clothing departments will happily cater to anyone who could be supermodel thin but any person whose waist size is a little larger is automatically ushered into the "plus size" by salespeople even if they know they could fit a large or extra large. ~~end fat girl rant~~

No one should be discriminated against because of their girth (unless they're trying out for athletic spots or jobs that require one to be phyiscally fit). To continually harrass people of girth will most likely drive them to eat more. I'm not accepting obesity, I'm just saying that we should be less judgemental. Especially if a child is obese....other kids can and will bully him to the point where he has no self esteem. However, I am all for physical fitness because obesity can be reversed.

while it may be my feelings that obesity is somewhat preventable, i do not believe it is a justifiable cause for discrimination. i'm sure it is the case that once the stage of "morbidly obese" is reached, the probably isn't much that can be done. but i do believe prior to that point, one can avoid a life style that will bring about morbid obesity, if they so choose. i have extended family members who may fit into such a category, but in every case that i've been able to somewhat observe, there have been stages in their lives that when they put forth the required effort, the wieght had gone considerably down. is this condition preventable? yes, i believe so. is it cause for discrimination? no, and i have a hard time finding anything that truly is.

Obesity is something that can be prevented, but many people who are morbidly obese, they cant get up and diet and excersize, so eevryone saying they are just lazy and wont quit eating, dont know ANYTHING about obesity or what it is doing to america!!!

Maybe if being fat were more looked down upon, there wouldn't be such a large percentage of the population that is overweight. As said in the movie Supersize Me obesity is an unhealthy lifestyle. If people looked down upon it as much as smoking or excessive drinking, less people would live that lifestyle.

There are no excuses for obesity except laziness and the food you eat.

I always say that people who point and jeer at other peoples imperfections are trying to hide their own insecurities by detracting the attention from themselves. So its always easier for these people to point a finger at someone whose overweight and not know the true history behind their condiditon. It's easy for people to stare and call horrible names at someone whom the majority of the time doesn't choose to live their life this way, but unfortunately has to, along with all the prejudices that go with it. I will never know what its like to be in this position and I'm one of the few in society that has never been obese or had a family history of obesity, but just like many other groups that are discriminated against I always choose not to judge them.

Many people have mentioned that obesity is something controllable (in most cases) and something that people shouldn't nag about because they are the only people to blame for eating so much and neglecting their health by not exercising. While I do agree that if someone is uncomfortable with being discriminated against because of their size, they should just lose the weight once and for all. But I don't think that this makes obesity a legitimate cause for discrimination or insults. To make fun of others on any superficial characteristic is low and hateful, and a poorer reflection on the offender than the victim.

It is not fair to discriminate against someone who is obese. this seems like a discrimination that others can get away with, how many times has someone refused to hire someone because they are heavy, or kids who are tortured in school because they are overweight. Not everyone can be skinny their whole life, it does not give them the right to humiliate someone who is obese.

This is silly. Most fat people get that way by being gluttons. Don't whine about it if somebody insults you; why don't you try eating less and exercise?

Unless it is a hugely physical job this is BS. I run a satellite installation company and most of my best installers are at least a bit heavy. These guys do attic work!

In this country, with people who are gluttonous in many, many ways, we scapegoat people who happen to be fat. Fat, unlike what everyone and everything tells you, is not the biggest problem in America. Some people are genetically fat. But people who even know that they can't get away with race, sex, and other discrimination, think it's okay to make fun of fat people. I know a lot of people in the fat people's movement (yes, it exists) and they don't call themselves obese, a medical term that suggests lack of health. Just as many people have heart problems who are too skinny as those who are too fat.