> an implicit understanding of what obesity is not: a personal failing Isn't questioning implicit assumptions a really important thing to do when you can't fig

> an implicit understanding of what obesity is not: a personal failing Isn't questioning implicit assumptions a really important thing to do when you can't figure something out? > a prevailing societal view of obesity, which assumes people have full control over their body size Unless you eat while sleepwalking or something, you do have full control over how much you eat, and I don't think anyone who only eats 2000kcal/day ends up weighing 300lbs. > As long as we treat obesity as a personal responsibility issue, its prevalence is unlikely to decline. That's true for now, since we're heading towards a culture that eschews personal responsibility. > A recent Times of London column argued that fat shaming is a real solution to obesity, just as Bill Maher ranted earlier that the body positivity movement — a “joyful celebration of gluttony,” he said — harms people by condoning weight gain. Quite the contrary: Researchers have repeatedly found fat shaming promotes weight gain and harms. Consider moving a point along y=x^2, starting at the origin. Increasing x increases y. Does this mean doing the opposite must decrease y? Of course not.