3 ms·

Sorry, I’m struggling to see the problem in this. Unless you’re genetically predisposed to being overweight, it is caused by diet and lifestyle. We know this. W

Sorry, I’m struggling to see the problem in this. Unless you’re genetically predisposed to being overweight, it is caused by diet and lifestyle. We know this. We have all known this for a long time. If you are actively choosing to avoid changing your diet and lifestyle, and the COST of your decision will eventually become something your employer and your fellow citizens must pay, to the point that it will lead to significant strain on finances, why should they support and embrace your behavior? Should we also fake sympathy for smokers? This isn’t a race or gender issue. This is a lifestyle issue. I know my opinion is politically incorrect, but this is what a lot of us are actually thinking. Even if we openly say the opposite.

valleyer 9y ago
I find it interesting that you took time to mention the possibility of people being "predisposed to being overweight" yet proceeded to make no other affordance for that possibility in your comment. Is it not possible that most people who are overweight are so predisposed? This would make it not a "lifestyle issue". In fact, given all the societal and health problems associated with being overweight, I find it hard to assume that many people would be "actively choosing" that path. And yes, many of us who dislike smoking do feel sympathy for smokers. Nicotine is addictive. This is why we spend money on public health programs to help people quit. Same with other kinds of drug addicts.
- SamReidHughes 9y ago
  It's obvious some people are predisposed to let themselves go the same way others are predisposed to commit criminal acts. That doesn't mean their behavior should be pardoned.
- Simon_says 9y ago
  There probably is a genetic component to obesity, but that is only a thin sliver of the problem. People 200 years ago had indistinguishable genetics from today yet obesity was rare enough that it was a curiosity. Something has changed in the last 200 years and the list of suspects is basically down to diet and/or exercise. I feel sympathy for nicotine addicts, just as I do for the obese. It's hard to pin down exactly how, but society (meaning some combination of their parents, peers, education, and government) has failed them. Focus on genetic components to obesity isn't technically wrong, but it doesn't help anybody get better.

valleyer 9y ago

I find it interesting that you took time to mention the possibility of people being "predisposed to being overweight" yet proceeded to make no other affordance for that possibility in your comment. Is it not possible that most people who are overweight are so predisposed? This would make it not a "lifestyle issue". In fact, given all the societal and health problems associated with being overweight, I find it hard to assume that many people would be "actively choosing" that path. And yes, many of us who dislike smoking do feel sympathy for smokers. Nicotine is addictive. This is why we spend money on public health programs to help people quit. Same with other kinds of drug addicts.

SamReidHughes 9y ago
It's obvious some people are predisposed to let themselves go the same way others are predisposed to commit criminal acts. That doesn't mean their behavior should be pardoned.
Simon_says 9y ago
There probably is a genetic component to obesity, but that is only a thin sliver of the problem. People 200 years ago had indistinguishable genetics from today yet obesity was rare enough that it was a curiosity. Something has changed in the last 200 years and the list of suspects is basically down to diet and/or exercise. I feel sympathy for nicotine addicts, just as I do for the obese. It's hard to pin down exactly how, but society (meaning some combination of their parents, peers, education, and government) has failed them. Focus on genetic components to obesity isn't technically wrong, but it doesn't help anybody get better.