To me, weight becomes a concern when it causes health issues.

PeterJL121 said:

Yeah you are right..its not the same. The nigga,the cracker, the spic, the kike, the towel head, the faggot etc can all openly say things about the last bastion of a scapegoat etc and point their fingers at them and say.."ugh! I hate them becaue of..". And another reason it isnt the same is because even the alcoholic, drug addict etc get sympathy more then people who have weight problems etc. You hear "Oh they have an addiction problem, a disease, addictive brian chemistry" "theybgrew up in a small town with no diversity" etc. You can be a looped out druggie racist and it still is reasoned or explained with compassion more than people who are obese etc. But of course this is normal animalistic/human behavior. We all need soemthing that we can collectively point our finger at and go "that aint mine..that aint right."

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[This message was edited Sun Nov 17 8:03:21 PST 2002 by rdhull]

PeterJL121 said:

There isn't a person in the world who doesnt do things in their own homes etc. that others would find disgusting ...the world is a trip and a half.
[This message was edited Sun Nov 17 8:11:27 PST 2002 by rdhull]

And how many Overweight people are Embarassed by their weight and Tend to order a Salad or not eat in public but in the house eat what they are really hungry for? How many are in the Closet because they are Frowned upon? A Stigma so to speak?

In my opinion, any enlightened "society" should take an active interest in the health and education of its members. In this country, we've got an obesity epidemic. Usually, disease epidemics are cause for action on the part of a society - what shall our response be?

I'm not about making fun of people, discriminating against their physical disabilities, or anything remotely like that. What I do feel passionate about is helping people to make better choices for themselves - and that includes those who find themselves damaged by unhealthful obesity in our fast-food, low-impact, TV-ridden culture.

To the defenders of obesity I say this: What about the children who are raised to eat more, exercise less, and accept their new bigger bodies? Why is the incidence of "adult-onset" diabetes on the rise among children? How do you respond to our legitimate critics around the world who see us as overconsumers of the world's resources?

So I refuse to sugarcoat the problem and passively accept the obese transformation of American society. This ain't about vanity. It's more about public health. We can do a lot better.


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TheMax said:

Exactly. It's hard enough just being an average teenager, but to put a weight problem on top of that is just torture, I can't imagine what that must feel like. I know, I have some cousins that face this & it's painful for me to watch - what's it like for them to live it?

The fact that people incorporate fast food into their weekly meals is disturbing. Kids don't know any better - they grow up eating this shit, develop habits that are gonna be nearly impossible to change, face being stuck w/ a weight problem for the rest of their life b/c no one ever taught them how to eat. Your body isn't just some THING you're lugging around in & I think people forget that. We've gotta take better care of ourselves & our children, it's just awful...

It makes me sick to see children of friends who eat nothing but high carb,processed food all the time! One friend's child even appreciates when I bring him fruit instead of candy because he never has fruit or vegetables in his house! It's just as easy to give a child some apple slices and a slice of cheese for a snack instead of just opening up a bag of "fortified" fruit snacks! I agree that it's just as destructive to accept being overweight as the new norm as it is to make fun of people who are overweight and not realize that there are lots of reasons why they are!
I think the biggest problem for the next generation of americans will be overcoming the affects of ingesting nothing but overprocessed,high carb, genetically modified, food that is full of hormones, antibiotics and sugar!!!