[quote=briansd1]This obesity issue is controversial because people see themselves and take it personally. As more and more of the population is fat, the issue becomes more of a hot potato, despite the science.
The data is there. As ocrenter pointed out, obesity in America is a huge problem. The progression of obesity over the years shows that it’s a food and behavior problem more than a genetic problem.
Of course some people are predisposed to eating more, and metabolizing less calories.
We are not born the same.
If a person is naturally fat, that person has to try harder. She needs to eat foods that have move volume but less calories.
Likewise a student who is not that intelligent needs to try harder at school. Failure is not acceptable. A person who is born poor needs to work harder in life. Those are facts of life.
CA renter, you want to kick out people who can’t pay their mortgage, but you won’t tell naturally inclined fat people that they can never have brownies?[/quote]
Brian,
How in the world do you relate people who don’t pay their mortgages with people who are overweight? There is zero correlation there.
One has to do with physiology (slow metabolism and how different foods affect different body types), the other has to do with psychology (inability to gauge risk and/or consider long-term consequences).
This is not about saying “no” to food. Yes, there are some people who are overweight because of overeating and a lack of exercise, but there are many more (IMHO) who have disfunctional metabolisms for reasons that have not been researched enough.
You have no idea how much effort these people have to put into just looking “normal.” The level of exercise required, and the type of diet they would have to follow would kill someone like you. It’s easy for you to say these things if you’ve never walked in their shoes.
BTW, I’ve mentioned this before, but there is an inverse correlation between smoking rates and obesity rates. Think that might have anything to do with it? I do.
