Re: Obese at Disney World

Rodney says:

> Part of the reason why many people fail is because they see success as
> an end instead of a process. I know many people that worked very hard
> to meet their goal, got there, and then regained all the weight plus
> more. Until people understand that fighting obesity is a lifestyle and
> not a one-time battle, this will be the case.

I agree, but I think people inevitably think in terms of a "goal weight"
because that's how their culture treats the issue. Weight-for-height
charts that the doctor shows you, BMI calculations, advertisements for
weight loss centers showing success stories who say they went from size Z
to size A, etc., even advice that specifically guides people to choosing
a goal to work towards, all reinforce it.

It's important to recognize the impact of societal context in all of
this. Restaurant portions are huge; certain grocery foods are engineered
to encourage you to eat more; busy lives put an emphasis on convenience;
convenience foods that put no emphasis on health; the bombardment of
advertising for nutritionally bankrupt foods and drinks with no parallel
advertising for healthy foods, and concomitant norming of those
nutritionally bankrupt foods while making healthy eating seem esoteric
and foreign; confusing messages about nutrition from a variety of
sources... It's a mine field. Yes, it's possible to pick your way
through it, but it's clearly a more difficult path to tread than it would
otherwise need to be. This is what makes me mad. If a kid eats at the
McDonald's in their school every day, what is normal food? McDonald's,
of course. What are beans and fresh vegetables? Weird, undesirable,
unpalatable.

> On the
> other hand, if you are an obese person, or even a person who is not yet
> obese but is making steady progress in that direction, please get help,
> and please do not shun those that offer it. Like I said in another
> reply, what bother me most about the argument that "obesity is a
> disease" is that with most diseases, it's OK to offer help. With
> obesity, it's considered very bad manners to even acknowledge that a
> person *is* obese.

It's inappropriate to acknowledge that a person is obese because a
person's weight is their business. And no, I would certainly not
consider it mannerly to offer another person unsolicited help with their
weight and/or health problem. But those who have made positive changes
to their diet and improved their overall health are free to make a beacon
of themselves, and whoever chooses to inquire further may be welcomed to
do so.

-- Alpha
.

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