[quote=CA renter]We need to focus on health, not appearance. There are plenty of skinny, malnourished, unhealthy people out there; and there are plenty of “overweight” people who will never have a serious health complication in their lives. I’ve known plenty of both.[/quote]
No one is saying that we should focus on appearance and not health. But, are you really arguing that on average a fat person (not even morbidly obese) are more healthy than a person who are not overweight (we’re not talking about anorexic or bulimic people here)? We’re talking about average here and not exceptions. Go ahead and ask any health care professionals about the various risks that comes with being overweight. If you don’t believe said healthcare professional, here’s what the government(National Heart Lung and Blood Institute) have to say about the health risks of overweight and obesity: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/risks.html
So yes, there are healthy non-overweight people who have bad luck and have health problems. However, on average, overweight people are more likely to have health problem.
I can easily use your logic to defend smoking as well. I know some people who have been smoking since they were teenagers and currently are still very healthy. Does that mean smoking have no risk?
