Your Opinions on Obese People

starbelgrade

From reading the thread on aeroplane seats, it seems that there is not a lot of sympathy for the obese. Some people have described themselves as being "repulsed" by them, others simply say that "it's their own fault they are fat".

There also seem to be many misconceptions about the causes of obesity. An interesting (though possibly not 100% conclusive/ encompassing) article I found on the subject, I have posted below (I've put the bullet points in italics for those of low attention spans!);

The cause of obesity can be simplified down to consuming more calories than are being used, the excess calories are stored as fat. But a person doesn’t develop obesity overnight. This condition develops over many years of making poor food choices coupled with little or no exercise.

There are other influencing factors as well, such as:

1. Family or environmental. If parents are overweight or obese, it is likely to run in the family, mainly due to food and exercise practices. Also, genetically, the hormones that control fat metabolism could be affected.

2. Overeating: Especially foods high in fat content and simple sugars such as sweets, chocolate, cakes, fizzy drinks, beer, wine, fried foods etc. These are energy dense foods with little or no nutritional value. It is easy to rack up the calories if your daily diet consists mainly of these types of foods.


3. Emotional. This is something that I believe to be a very important factor in weight issues. A lot of us let our emotional state be in charge of our eating habits. When we are upset, we usually over or under eat. If you are one of those people who overeat, when sad, then this could be a big factor in your weight. Our bodies are very astute at telling us we are full and also what types of foods that it wants. When one eats a balanced, healthy diet, rich in fruits, vegetables and water, the body craves more of these foods. It is our brain that tells our body that we want a chocolate bar instead of an apple. We need to feed our bodies what they want, not what our brain tells us they want!


4. Slow metabolism. Our metabolic rate is the rate at which we break down food and transform it into energy. It is directly related to the amount of lean muscle mass in the body. If you have a high percentage of body fat and low amount of muscle mass, you will not be metabolising food as efficiently as you would if you had a high lean muscle mass content and low body fat percentage. Also, our metabolism slows down when we have had a history of calorie restriction/binge cycles as in yo-yo dieting.

5. Lack of physical activity. It is one thing consuming a lot of calories but if you are sufficiently active you will use them all up. A top athlete may consume 5000 kCals a day but may use up more than that through exercise. The problem starts when you consume a high amount of calories and don’t do anything to burn them up.


6. Illness/Disease. Some illnesses or diseases such as hypothyroidism, insulin resistance or Cushing’s syndrome can lead to obesity.

7. Childhood weight. We are all born with a certain amount of fat cells. These fat cells can increase in size but not in number, except in very rare circumstances. When a child under 5 is overweight, their fat cells will increase in size and then will multiply. Even if the child loses fat, he will never lose the extra fat cells he has gained and therefore will find it increasingly difficult to lose weight. If you were overweight as a child, and I don’t mean puppy fat, you are at a greater risk of being obese later in life. There have been studies to suggest that being overweight at any stage of youth is predictive of adult obesity.

8. Hormones. Women tend to gain weight at certain points in their lives due to hormonal surges. Puberty, pregnancy, menopause. Many women also gain weight when using the contraceptive pill which is a hormone based medicine, although with the more modern, low hormone dosage pills, this is less of an issue than in former years.

http://www.nutrition.ie/obesity-causes.html

Ireland has the highest proportion of obesity in the EU, according to a 2008 HSE report & around 38 per cent of Irish adults are overweight, while 23 per cent are obese, according to a SLÁN 2007 report.

There is no doubt that these figures are shockingly high & that the cost of treatment for medical conditions caused by obesity are high, but that still doesn't explain to me some of the attitudes towards what is a large percentage of the population (excuse the pun).

As with any issue that can cause medical health problems - like drinking in excess or smoking - surely the key to reducing the problem is education & not a form of vitriolic finger pointing & name calling?

With obesity also on the rise in children, I think that one way of reducing the problem would be through education in schools - for me there is far too much emphasis put on academical issues & almost none put on social issues. Children could easily be educated from a young age on how to cook & eat healthily and how to exercise properly and this could also be done with input from parents in the schools. Education on the causes & effects of obesity would also form part of this program which would, for a small investment at an early point in the development of a young person's life, would reap huge rewards in the future, not just for the economy, but for the welfare & well being of our population.

Well, I've made my point & leave the floor open to discussion....

Hank_Jones

I certainly haven't got any respect for anyone who was born thin but became obese.

It's the health issues really, just can't understand how someone could allow themself to become obese.
Would never let it happen to myself.

El Tarangu

as you said in the OP, obesity is caused by consuming more calories than are used.

Eat less and exercise more. Excepting for the (extremely rare) cases where there is some sort medical cause for their being obese, overweight people have no-one to blae but themselves.

Ruu_Old

When I was growing up, we played majority of my friends played football and other sports. It was all we done, in or outside school! Does this not happen any more or happen more outside big towns? We often had various sporting figures come to our school in the schticks to talk to us about nutrition.

The US is different story, where school lunches are the norm from what I have seen, which are crap and a serious amount of chunky kids coming into the library everyday where I work.

Losing weight is not too difficult, simple and small changes make all the difference and all these crash diets and so on are the problem.

petes

It's the people you hear saying that they need to lose some weight while they are queuing at the counter to buy loads of buns that annoy me.

The thing is, there are alot of obese people that would have a very similar diet & exercise routine to thin people but because of their DNA make up they will just gain weight alot easier then other people. I've had friends in this situation & it can be really hard.

Zombienosh

tbh

starbelgrade

Hank_Jones wrote: »

I certainly haven't got any respect for anyone who was born thing but became obese.

It's the health issues really, just can't understand how someone could allow themself to become obese.
Would never let it happen to myself.

You say that you wouldn't let it happen to yourself & that might well be the case, but if it is, then you are very lucky.

Following the death of a close friend of mine 10 years ago & the death of my father less than a year later, I went from being very healthy & slim to being over 3 stone heavier. I was also suffering from mild depression. The worse thing was, that the more weight I put on, the more depressed I got & the more I over ate.

It took me about two years & bereavement councelling to come to terms with the deaths & as I did, my life became normal again & I lost the weight and haven't put it back on since.

But I cannot say for sure that something like this will never happen to me, or to anybody else - life can throw you many curveballs & you may not always react to them the way you expect.

The belief that obese people are fat simply because they are lazy & like food is quite an over simplistic one.

The_Kew_Tour

I was quite heavy myself few years ago. Lucky I lost 5 stone and now feel better and take up less room.;)

Thing is I dont judge person by their weight, why should anyone?

Hank_Jones

Regardless of what is going on in my life and I've been through a fair bit, I'm just never going to allow myself to become unhealthy.
My health is something that I have control over, possibly one of the only things that I really do have proper control over.

I suppose that sort of thing was just embedded into me from a young age.
I was always playing sports as a child and have played pretty much every sport under the sun.
Exercise is enjoyable for me, always has been.

smiles302

My heart goes out to over-weight children, specially when they are under 5 years of age. If kids come into junior infants overweight couldn't the parents get a warning, I hate the idea of taking children away from their parents but they really should be forced to take healthy cooking classes and take their kids to the park or swimming or something. It is the minority of kids who have genuine reasons for being overweight, most are just fed the wrong food. Best to tackle it while they are young, you'd assume teachers would be handy to give the most accurate guess as to what size kids their age and height usually are, that they see them day in day out.

RobbieTheRobber

smiles302 wrote: »

My heart goes out to over-weight children, specially when they are under 5 years of age. If kids come into junior infants overweight couldn't the parents get a warning, I hate the idea of taking children away from their parents but they really should be forced to take healthy cooking classes and take their kids to the park or swimming or something. It is the minority of kids who have genuine reasons for being overweight, most are just fed the wrong food. Best to tackle it while they are young, you'd assume teachers would be handy to give the most accurate guess as to what size kids their age and height usually are, that they see them day in day out.

Rule # 1 There are no bad kids only bad parents!

If I see fat kids then thats the parents fault, if I see fat adults I will look down on them just as much as I would look down at a heroin junkie who also has no respect for their body.

Do I go out of my way to make fat people feel bad?
No they do that to themselves already!

The_Kew_Tour

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

Rule # 1 There are no bad kids only bad parents!

If I see fat kids then thats the parents fault, if I see fat adults I will look down on them just as much as I would look down at a heroin junkie who also has no repect for their body.

Do I go out of my way to make fat people feel bad?
No they do that to themselves already!

nice guy eh:rolleyes:

kylith

El Tarangu wrote: »

as you said in the OP, obesity is caused by consuming more calories than are used.

Eat less and exercise more. Excepting for the (extremely rare) cases where there is some sort medical cause for their being obese, overweight people have no-one to blae but themselves.

This.

Deleted User wrote: »

The thing is, there are alot of obese people that would have a very similar diet & exercise routine to thin people but because of their DNA make up they will just gain weight alot easier then other people. I've had friends in this situation & it can be really hard.

Due to their DNA they need to exercise more then.

adrian280582 wrote: »

I was quite heavy myself few years ago. Lucky I lost 5 stone and now feel better and take up less room.;)

Thing is I dont judge person by their weight, why should anyone?

The only people I would judge by their weight are the ones who complain about not being able to lose weight whilst eating Mars bars and driving everywhere (and I learned the hard way that they don't like this being pointed out to them).

A couple of years ago I was heading towards the 'really rather fat' end of the scale. Both my parents are overweight, so it's in my genes, and I also have a hormonal inbalance that makes me more likely to gain weight. When my thighs started to rub together I binned all the crisps and chocolate in the house, bought a load of fruit and salad, got the bike out of the shed, and also started walking. A lot of sweating later (60min cycle, 60min walk every day) I'm down to a healthy weight, and have now kept the weight off for 2 years.

Your genes and your hormones can mean that you're more inclined to get heavy, but you can alter your diet and exercise so that you don't put on weight. I have little sympathy for the crowd who use 'it's in my family' or 'it's hormonal' as an excuse.

RobbieTheRobber

adrian280582 wrote: »

nice guy eh:rolleyes:

Yeah I am nice!

So you have never looked down at junkies and thought you were better than them?

Say no and be a liar, I dont mind!
Heroin or other drug abusers can justifiably claim in many instances it was a bad life that mad them that way and we look down at them so why should I look at obese people and think any different of them when in many of the same ways they are using the same excuses for being lazy and eating too much!

antidark777

I would think that the predominant causes on that list were overeating and lack of physical activity.
While some may argue with that, and they may be right (emotional imbalance is a major factor), the issue of obesity, in particular childhood obesity can be curbed by changes in lifestyle, a greater emphasis on physical activites in primary schools, and a healthier diet.

Its too simplistic to say 'its their fault they're fat' (moreso with kids than adults). Obesity in childhood is most certainly not the childs fault. Its the parents responsibility to ensure their child leads a healthy lifestyle.

With adult obesity, more of the factors mentioned by the OP can be taken into consideration. Its not the persons fault if they are making at least some effort to eat healthy and keep active but their condition persists.

As the OP succinctly put it, education and awareness is key to fighting this epidemic. How? How about health classes in schools? These classes could detail the consequences of such unhealthy lifestyles and what a person should be doing every day to maintain their health.
Remember that advert on tv about smoking where it showed the plaque being pushed out of the smokers artery. Why not something as hard-hitting as that about obesity? Im not suggesting scare tactics, just the facts.

Hank_Jones

I'm not going to look down on someone who is obese.

I would have less respect for someone who doesn't look after themselves though, regardless of how they look physically.
If someone is obese, and the reason they are obese is because they are pigging out on food,
then I'm going to lose some respect for them, because they have no control.
Same goes for someone who smokes 40 a day and drinks like a fish but doesn't have a pick on them because they have no interest in food.

The_Kew_Tour

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

Yeah I am nice!

So you have never looked down at junkies and thought you were better than them?

Say no and be a liar, I dont mind!
Heroin or other drug abusers can justifiably claim in many instances it was a bad life that mad them that way and we look down at them so why should I look at obese people and think any different of them when in many of the same ways they are using the same excuses for being lazy and eating too much!

I dont't look down on anybody only for people who commit crimes or take advantages or others for themselves that maybe a junkie or social woker or politician for all I know.

I dont look down on somebody because they are obese they may have many haelth issues that cannot be helped I know of few.

Wazdakka

Most people who complain about being overweight are just lazy in my opinion.

If you want to loose weight, eat healthily and exercise.
It's simples..

The problem, as far as I can see is that a lot of overweight people don't realise that living like this isn't a three month diet... it's a lifestyle.
As in, you do it forever..

It's the funniest thing ever when some lardy cow is sitting there bitching about how she lost weight but it just keeps going straight back on...
I Wonder why?!?

Maybe because as soon as you loose some weight, you think that you can "treat yourself" with all the crap that made you a saggy bowl of whale blubber in the first place...
I just don't get it..

If you're fat and happy, Be happy and fat.
I have no problem at all with fat people.

If you're fat and unhappy because you want to be in better shape.... Then bloody do something about it..

Here is the Waz Diet..
Guaranteed to help you loose 5 stone or your money back.
"PUT DOWN THE FORK AND GO OUTSIDE FOR A WALK, YOU BIG TUB OF GOO.."

[/Daily rant]

kylith

antidark777 wrote: »

As the OP succinctly put it, education and awareness is key to fighting this epidemic. How? How about health classes in schools? These classes could detail the consequences of such unhealthy lifestyles and what a person should be doing every day to maintain their health.

I've always maintained that Home Ec. should be mandatory in schools, and that students should be taught how to make basic, nutritious meals on a budget.

jimmycrackcorm

Obesity is a lifestyle choice.....

RobbieTheRobber

I think the issue for most fat people can be blamed one simple problem.


The old two hands and only one Fat face problem!

Seriously put the big mac down!

The_Kew_Tour

Wazdakka wrote: »

Most people who complain about being overweight are just lazy in my opinion.

If you want to loose weight, eat healthily and exercise.
It's simples..

The problem, as far as I can see is that a lot of overweight people don't realise that living like this isn't a three month diet... it's a lifestyle.
As in, you do it forever..

It's the funniest thing ever when some lardy cow is sitting there bitching about how she lost weight but it just keeps going straight back on...
I Wonder why?!?

Maybe because as soon as you loose some weight, you think that you can "treat yourself" with all the crap that made you a saggy bowl of whale blubber in the first place...
I just don't get it..

If you're fat and happy, Be happy and fat.
I have no problem at all with fat people.

If you're fat and unhappy because you want to be in better shape.... Then bloody do something about it..

Here is the Waz Diet..
Guaranteed to help you loose 5 stone or your money back.

PUT DOWN THE FORK AND GO OUTSIDE FOR A WALK, YOU BIG TUB OF GOO..

[/Daily rant]

Hell after that rant you have more chance getting heart attack then any obese person ;)

AnonoBoy

It's true what they say, fat men are just jollier

- He committed suicide Mrs. Doyle

Ah that's often the way with fat men! They laugh to hide the tears!

MultiUmm

Anyone else think that it's usually thin people who are more concerned about their weight and maintaining it?

I'm thin, most of my friends are and some are absolutely paranoid about putting on any weight.

minister poxbottle

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

Rule # 1 There are no bad kids only bad parents!

If I see fat kids then thats the parents fault, if I see fat adults I will look down on them just as much as I would look down at a heroin junkie who also has no respect for their body.

Do I go out of my way to make fat people feel bad?
No they do that to themselves already!

do you go out of your way to make junkies feel bad?
do you actively seek out junkies and point at them and go ha

AnonoBoy

minister poxbottle wrote: »

do you actively seek out junkies and point at them and go ha

Only from a safe running distance - why do you ask?

RobbieTheRobber

minister poxbottle wrote: »

do you go out of your way to make junkies feel bad?
do you actively seek out junkies and point at them and go ha

No did I say I do?

Wazdakka

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Only from a safe running distance - why do you ask?

WOW...
You have a safe that can run?

:eek:

That's awesome.

AnonoBoy

Wazdakka wrote: »

WOW...
You have a safe that can run?

:eek:

That's awesome.

Quiet! Or else everyone is going to want one.

NOGMaxpower

adrian280582 wrote: »

Thing is I dont judge person by their weight, why should anyone?

Spot on enough said.

reprazant

I described myself as being slightly repulsed in the other thread, but I was referring to morbidly obese people. Tbf, repulsed was probably too strong a word really. I should have said slightly disgusted.

I have no real problem with people who are overweight at all. Christ, pretty much everyone has been at some stage of their lives. I do have a problem with people who are morbidly obese though. I don't understand how you can allow yourself get that way. I can't understand how somebody can have that little respect for themselves.

Overheal

1) A lot of it is down to personal choice. If alarm bells arent ringing off in your head when you're out of breath getting up out of bed and you dont go do some exercise....

2) Companies work very hard to make you stuff your face with their value menus and sweets, and ensure healthy options are expensive options

3) Obesity in the united states will in the not so distant future cost about $350b annually in medical complications.

Junk Food needs to be regulated in a similar respect to cigarettes.

smellslikeshoes

I've no problem with people who are happy enough being fat. It's the whingers complaining that they've "tried everything" and worse still the excuse makers shifting the blame on something else.

I would bet that it's only a tiny minority of obese people who actually have a medical condition. And even for those legitimate cases with a medical condition I'm convinced that with a healthy low calorie diet with plenty of exercise they could still stay at a healthy weight if they worked hard enough.

I also think this genetics excuse is a load of rubbish. If you take in less calories than you expend you aren't going to gain weight.
If you've a slow metabolism, eat less exercise more, it's not bloody rocket science.

starin out the window

I think obesity is horrible, now dont get me wrong, we have all differnt kinds of people with different kinds of builds thats fine, how ever when you have some one who is so over weight to be classed as obese then that is a form of physical abuse be it self inflicted or inflicted by others ie. The obese Parents obese Children thing. Something needs to be done about education and sports in schools I think it is the only way to combat this because later in life the habits are set

kylith

Overheal wrote: »

2) Companies work very hard to make you stuff your face with their value menus and sweets,

Granted the put a lot of money and effort into advertising, but they don't put a gun to your head and make you eat burgers

and ensure healthy options are expensive options

Rubbish. If you go to Lidl you can get a bunch of bananas for the price of a Mars bar.

fatboypee

ooohw....

minister poxbottle

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

No did I say I do?

you did not, thats why i was asking just out of curiosity

saram

People who are obese should certainly not be looked at too negatively..

Genes etc have a far greater input than any healthy eating and exercise..

Easy for some but not everybody is fortunate! There is no level playing field..

ejmaztec

Hank_Jones wrote: »

I certainly haven't got any respect for anyone who was born thin but became obese.

If they were born obese, most of them would spend the rest of their lives knowing that their mothers died giving birth to them.:eek:

Venom

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

Rule # 1 There are no bad kids only bad parents!

If I see fat kids then thats the parents fault, if I see fat adults I will look down on them just as much as I would look down at a heroin junkie who also has no respect for their body.

Do I go out of my way to make fat people feel bad?
No they do that to themselves already!

Spot on the money.

Some parents really need to learn how to use the word "No". I see the same little porker stuffing his gob with 2 Cornish Pasty's every morning at the bus stop. That amount of junk food at 8.20am would make you wonder what sort of rubbish he eats at other mealtimes but I'm sure there is some "other reason" he's a blimp :rolleyes:

bonerm

fatboypee wrote: »

ooohw....

I've always wondered about that photo. Is the guy sitting on the armrest (as it appears in shot) or is is he down at proper seat level, because if the latter then he must be one huge fcuker to begin with - never mind just a fat one.

Wazdakka

saram wrote: »

Easy for some but not everybody is fortunate! There is no level playing field..

I blame the fat people for all sitting down one end.. :mad:

saram

saram wrote: »

People who are obese should certainly not be looked at too negatively..

Genes etc have a far greater input than any healthy eating and exercise..

Easy for some but not everybody is fortunate! There is no level playing field..

I can't imagine genes for all the obese people in the world magically sprung into existence in the last 20 years

RobbieTheRobber

Venom wrote: »

Spot on the money.

Some parents really need to learn how to use the word "No". I see the same little porker stuffing his gob with 2 Cornish Pasty's every morning at the bus stop. That amount of junk food at 8.20am would make you wonder what sort of rubbish he eats at other mealtimes but I'm sure there is some "other reason" he's a blimp :rolleyes:

Probably a genetics thing, are his parents obese?

fatboypee

I partially suffer from the stigma attached to obesity. I have been called fat all my life pretty much. Despite this, I'm able to run 10k comfortably, play tennis, work out in the gym at least twice a week. I'm not fat but I'm not stick thin. I have luuurve handles... that I have little patience in getting rid of.

To me, its about being fit-for-purpose really and I have considerable sympathy for people who have got themselves into a situation where they're extremely unfit because of weight issues. A moment on the lips like, its deadly and once you get past the roof over the toolshed stage it becomes morbidly depressing trying to lose it and takes an immense amount of courage and strength to keep trying. Yet I'm not 100% sure its all food related in this country. Alot of people I see in that situation the weight gain is down to alcohol consumption alongside poor diet choices.

fbp.

Wazdakka

bluewolf wrote: »

I can't imagine genes for all the obese people in the world magically sprung into existence in the last 20 years

Also.. For the genes theory to be true, fat people must be breeding...

Nobody wants fat sex.

"is that it?"
"no that's a stomach fold"
"How about that?"
"That's leg cleavage, your getting closer"
"Hang on, I'll get some flour, then I can just aim for the wet spot"
"mmmm I love it when you play with my loose neck skin"

*Shudder*

Parsley

saram wrote: »

People who are obese should certainly not be looked at too negatively..

Genes etc have a far greater input than any healthy eating and exercise..

Easy for some but not everybody is fortunate! There is no level playing field..

http://jackdrew.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/absolut.jpg

kylith

saram wrote: »

Genes etc have a far greater input than any healthy eating and exercise..

Easy for some but not everybody is fortunate! There is no level playing field..

Rubbish! The playing field may not be level, but if you put in the effort you'll see the results.

smellslikeshoes

saram wrote: »

People who are obese should certainly not be looked at too negatively..

Genes etc have a far greater input than any healthy eating and exercise..

Easy for some but not everybody is fortunate! There is no level playing field..

This genes rubbish is just an excuse. Your genes can make you have a slow metabolism but it's taking in more calories than you expend that makes you fat, not having a slow metabolism.

Take in less calories than you expend and you won't gain weight, simple as that.

Diabhal Beag

People can lose weight if they can walk. It people who are ill/disabled that can't lose weight that I feel sympathy for.