Should obesity be legal?

[geekgirlkelli]

Obesity is not only extremely unhealthy for the obese person, it also costs society in the way of increased health insurance costs, greater fuel usage on public transportation, and huge problems (no pun intended) for people who must care for the obese and for those who must handle the bodies of deceased obese individuals after they die. Obese people are also typically less able-bodied and less productive in the workplace, which costs companies money.

Should the obese be forcibly placed in weight control therapy? Should obese people be banned from certain eating establishments? Should obese people be prohibited from wearing certain articles of clothing so that we normal sized people don't have to look at that while we're shopping, trying to enjoy a meal at a restaurant, or even just taking a peaceful stroll in the park? Should health insurance companies be allowed to charge a higher premium to obese people, as some do to smokers? Should being obese simply be illegal?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[Pliny the Elder]

Of course not as it raises my taxes because I have to pay for the extra health care expenses and I also have to look at fat people, and seriously who wants to do that?

 

[revanneosl]

Certainly obese people shouldn't be allowed to legally marry other obese people. They'd pass the genes for teh fat along to their children. [/sarcasm]

 

[QuakerOats]

Yes, obesity should be legal. There are a variety of factors that contribute to weight, including genetics, and medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism, for example. Certain medications can and do also affect weight. Not everyone who is, or is considered overweight, or obese is such because they're lazy, and/or they eat too much (which can also be a medical condition; see compulsive overeating). I think that, instead of continually shunning overweight people and making them feel inadequate, society should focus more on promoting a healthy body-weight for one's build and stature.

 

[revanneosl]

Okay - now I feel like I need to do a disclaimer:

In Real Life I agree with Quaker Oats there.

I just wanted to clear that up because, while I believe that dear geekgirlkelli is engaging in an instructive metaphor aimed at those who want to oppress GLBTQ persons based on the canard that their "lifestyle" (a fiction created by the overheated imaginations of puritans) is "unhealthy" (whatever that means), I'm not at all sure that I won't be misunderstood around here.

Lots & lots of folks seems to be mistaking their own personal squeamishnesses for "morality" and their bigotries for "the law" these days. It's really quite disturbing.

And I am both obese and a smoker. I know what it's like to get the big hairy fisheye from folk who make all sorts of assumptions about my character based on what they can observe about my weight. I also know what it's like to be legislatively barred from public places (welcome to Illinois, where you can't even smoke in a Bowling Alley Bar for whoever's sake!)

So I didn't want anybody to think I was actually condoning discrimination against teh fat-folk. I am the Queen of teh fat-folk.

And let me say this: as an obese, intellectual, geeky, unattractive, awkward, unfashionable, cigarette smoking woman...I don't face discrimination anywhere in the same universe that GLBTQ people face every single day.

end of disclaimer

 

[geekgirlkelli]

And let me say this: as an obese, intellectual, geeky, unattractive, awkward, unfashionable, cigarette smoking woman...I don't face discrimination anywhere in the same universe that GLBTQ people face every single day.

end of disclaimer

And I want to make it clear that I really mean no offense to anyone. My partner is actually very overweight and I don't care. I love her for her wonderful personality and her weight does not make her any less of a person. Yes, this thread was to make a point. Unfortunately, most simply don't want to "get it." It's not that they can't, it's because they refuse to for the very reasons you described.

Thank you for posting

 

[Zeo]

I feel the same way about this issue that I do about the issue it's really trying to demonstrate: we have no RIGHT to tell people what to do with their lives.

The problem with this whole "it's UNHEALTHY, we're doing this for the fat (gay, wherein gay=sinner) person's benefit!" business is that it unfairly singles out people for something they may or may not even have control over (and even if they do, what business is it of ours?).

For instance, say you have a situation where an employee for your company has a thyroid disorder and cannot get their weight under 230 pounds no matter how much they diet and exercise, despite the fact that they technically live healthier than most adults in a normal weight range these days. Then you have a 140 pound woman with a genetic condition that causes her body to slowly deteriorate over time, costing much in the way of health care over the years. Both people are wonderful workers and have excellent performance. Now, are you going to target one of them for "costing the company more money in health care because of personal bad lifestyle habits" and leave the other alone? How is this fair? And how on Earth is it fair to charge BOTH of them for health problems they have little to no control over? Punishing workers because they have troubled bodies? What?

Now, onto the topic of people who are "fat because they choose to be" what right do we have to tell them how to live their life? Plenty of people have horrendous health because of the way the world is today, and we're singling out obesity? Really?

Read this rant/comment as referring to both the actual topic and the metaphor.

 

[revanneosl]

I myself think that most American's evince an unhealthy, immoral and totally baffling interest in collegiate and professional sports.

Further, I think that the collegiate sports industry alienates rather a lot of the taxpayer dollars that could be better spent on collegiate academics.

Do I want to make collegiate and professional sports illegal?

Nope.

 

[The Bible Thumper]

I myself think that most American's evince an unhealthy, immoral and totally baffling interest in collegiate and professional sports.

Further, I think that the collegiate sports industry alienates rather a lot of the taxpayer dollars that could be better spent on collegiate academics.

Do I want to make collegiate and professional sports illegal?

Nope.

I have this longstanding hypothesis that states the watching and following of professional sports is a sort of 'closet homosexual voyeurism', whereby men actually express certain of latent homosexual tendencies. My evidence for this is a letter that was sent in to Dear Abbey, whereby the distraught housewife was wondering why her husband got an erection whenever he watched a football game. My hypothesis suggested that there may be this latent and hitherto unexplored homosexual tendency in the viewer.
Plus, titles such as "Wide Receiver", "Tight End" and the "End Zone" seem to lend a certain viability to the hypothesis.
If someone is offended by my hypothesis, don't be. These feelings are natural, as the immense popularity of the Super Bowl can attest...

 

[LostJohnny]

I don't mind there being obese men. The more obese men there are, the better I look. But I do think that all fat women should be sent to compulsory fitness camps.

 

[TeddyKGB]

I don't mind there being obese men. The more obese men there are, the better I look. But I do think that all fat women should be sent to compulsory fitness camps.

Obvious troll is obvious.

 

[PantsMcFist]

Analogy aside - I think it ought to be illegal to be obese, as well as smoke. If someone hasn't got the good sense to eat healthily or in reasonable quantities, they should be made to do so.

 

[Chesterton]

“Sooner or later
You're gonna listen to Ralph Nader
I don't wanna cause a fuss
But fast cars are so dangerous

Fast cars, I hate fast cars”

 

[SallyNow]

Those who habitially massivily speed, those who smoke with kids in the room, those who drive without seatbelts, those who use toxic paints and substances at work, those who smoke at all... they are a risk to society.

Banning obesity would, quite frankly, be stupid. The idea alone shows a complete lack of understanding behind the reasons of obesity.

Also, how would one measure obesity to that a person reached the "legal limit" of weight for their height? By the BMI, which has been shown to faulty time and time again? By body fat percentage, which isn't very kind to healthy women with large breasts and ample rear ends?

The reasons behind obesity are complex. Some obese people are so because they care so much about the people around them that their only real comfort is food - and often low-grade food at that, because they don't want to "waste" money on themselves.

Much of the obesity in many poorer areas of North America is caused by a lack of cheap nutriet-rich food and amazingly easy access to cheap, nutritionally lacking foods that require people to eat large quantities to get the necessary nutrients.

Then there are also the cases of obesity caused by medication, underlying medical condition, depression, hormone problems, or combinations of all of the them.

A sane approach to helping fighting obesity caused by the eating of nutrient-poor food would be to make sure that poorer areas has access to quick, healthy food, affordable food. Community gardens, food co-ops, and community sports teams would be a big improvement.

Making cities more public-transit - and therefore walking - friendly would also reduce the obesity rate. Look at Europe - they have similiar problems with those who are underweight, but most people are either thin or overweight but still very healthy, because they walk everywhere. Severe obesity isn't so much of a problem.

America doesn't need to marginalize obese people. It needs to realize that it's North America's messed up systems that are causing the problem.

 

[GreenMunchkin]

What an ugly thread. Congratulations