# Can anyone become morbidly obese? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307 "2008-07-31T01:37:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/41 "2008-08-04T16:08:41Z")
[QUOTE=Saint Cad] I remember watching one of the reality talk shows like Jerry Springer. It showed a 5 year old near 100 lbs (to compare, my 9 year old is tall for his age and is overweight and is 112 lbs). This kid ate more than me at 6’ 240 lbs. I couldn’t help thinking that there was something medically wrong with the kid like maybe the stomach never sent the “I’m full” signal. Second was “Why do they let him eat like that?”. Third was, “The kid needs to go to a doctor.” [/QUOTE] In a child this age, I hope they ruled out [Prader Willi Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader-Willi_syndrome), especially if the little guy was doing the grasping hands talk show circuit. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/42 "2008-08-04T17:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=ntcrawler] But how do they burn it off though? I understand the concepts behind the ring of fat theory that lacking fat around their stomach they are able to expand it further than fat people who do these contests, fine. But how do they manage to burn of the 20,000 or so calories that they consume? That one champion from Japan, a medical equipment salesman (forgot his name, sorry), isn’t a particularly extraordinairy athlete, definitely not a marathon runner. So how does he avoid absorbing all those calories? [/QUOTE] I seem to recall reading or hearing somewhere that those eating contest winners proceed to barf most of it up after they’re off stage. Anybody know if that’s true? ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/43 "2008-08-04T19:41:38Z")
[QUOTE=Gorgonzola] In a child this age, I hope they ruled out [Prader Willi Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader-Willi_syndrome), especially if the little guy was doing the grasping hands talk show circuit. [/QUOTE] One of my psychology profs worked at a camp for Prader-Willi kids. Said it was sad - imagine your worst hunger pangs then imagine having them constantly. The camp IIRC pretty much just tried to distract the kids from their hunger. Literally have to lock the food up or these kids will eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/44 "2008-08-04T23:53:19Z")
Another data point might be Sumo wrestlers. The Japanese ones (as distinct from the Samoan, Hawaiian or Mongolean, about whom I don’t know anything) are, I believe, typically fairly normal size men before they go into training. They use particular kinds of food to bulk up (and work on turning much of that bulk into muscle), including a kind of stew called chankonabe. Once they retire they might lose 1/3 or more of their weight, but their life expectancy is still quite short (60 to 65). Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/45 "2008-08-04T23:59:38Z")
[QUOTE=Gorgonzola] In a child this age, I hope they ruled out [Prader Willi Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader-Willi_syndrome), especially if the little guy was doing the grasping hands talk show circuit. [/QUOTE] No it wasn’t that. It struck me that the kid just never got full. Oh, and his parents let him eat greasy fatty foods all the time too. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/46 "2008-08-05T04:44:14Z")
[QUOTE=Roderick Femm] Another data point might be Sumo wrestlers. The Japanese ones (as distinct from the Samoan, Hawaiian or Mongolean, about whom I don’t know anything) are, I believe, typically fairly normal size men before they go into training. They use particular kinds of food to bulk up (and work on turning much of that bulk into muscle), including a kind of stew called chankonabe. Once they retire they might lose 1/3 or more of their weight, but their life expectancy is still quite short (60 to 65). [/QUOTE] Hmm…well maybe. You should be aware that Sumo is, like other spectator fighting events, split by weight. I suspect that a majority of Sumo wrestlers don’t look like “Sumo wrestlers”, but in general and particularly outside of Japan, you never see the (comparatively) thin guys. So Sumo don’t present any evidence that _anyone_ can fatten up to high levels. (For instance, you wouldn’t notice [these guys](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sumoworkout.JPG) on the street if they were wearing plain clothes.) ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/47 "2008-08-05T08:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] (For instance, you wouldn’t notice [these guys](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sumoworkout.JPG) on the street if they were wearing plain clothes.) [/QUOTE] I think I have that movie… ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/48 "2008-08-05T13:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=MLS] I seem to recall reading or hearing somewhere that those eating contest winners proceed to barf most of it up after they’re off stage. Anybody know if that’s true? [/QUOTE] My only contribution to this is anecdotal, from a friend who entered a hamburger-eating contest. In his case, that definitely was NOT true, nor did he think the other contestants did so. On the other hand, this was a once-a-year kind of thing for him and not something he did multiple times, therefore the effect on his weight was very minimal. (A few weeks “training”, then the event, then back to normal). ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/49 "2008-08-05T19:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=Saint Cad] No it wasn’t that. It struck me that the kid just never got full. Oh, and his parents let him eat greasy fatty foods all the time too. [/QUOTE] I guess he’d eventually end up overweight anyway though, right? If he didn’t have the right chemicals signaling fullness, he’d probably be gorging on what ever the parents fed him. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/50 "2008-08-05T20:57:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] … (For instance, you wouldn’t notice [these guys](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sumoworkout.JPG) on the street if they were wearing plain clothes.) [/QUOTE] No matter how they dressed, if they were standing like that, I’d notice. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/51 "2008-08-05T22:29:18Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] If it is easier for you, according to my calculations, you can get 33,000 calories from about 21 cups of butter. [/QUOTE] Or, according to my calculations, 54 gallons of celery. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/52 "2008-08-05T22:37:29Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] …(I’m 5’7" but very fine boned. I need less ass.) [/QUOTE] That’s funny, because I need more! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![danman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@danman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/53 "2012-11-12T12:52:53Z")
i have seen a lot of reality shows about the morbidly obese on tv. mostly shows from the usa. i am always astounded at the size of these people. i struggle to understand how a person could possibly become so huge. all the comments i have read here make sense. it would seem there are several factors that combine to result in this bizarre increase in body mass. i have never eaten a three or more course meal in my life. in my childhood my brothers sister and i were never served dessert. it was always one meal and a cup of tea or two. that was it. maybe appetite is conditioned from a young age. i read an article years ago that suggested the more choice of food you have you more you are likely to eat. like when you go to an all you can eat place. it still leaves me wondering though about the little switch in your head that simply tells your belly it is full. i know there have been thousands of opportunities for me to gorge on food and rarely would i eat more than i need at the time. i simply don’t need more food. maybe that switch gets messed up by being encouraged to eat more at a young age and in later life it doesn’t switch your hunger off when it should. i feel sympathy for people that are constantly hungry. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/54 "2012-11-12T13:19:47Z")
How many braaaaiiiins in 30,000 calories? (danman, this thread is four years old, and several of the posters in it aren’t even here anymore. We call these “zombie” threads, because they’ve been brought back from the dead. No harm, just wanted to point it out because some people are frustrated when they post to a thread not realizing it’s “a zombie.” Me, I just like to make zombie jokes.) > [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > There does seem to be something about most people’s bodies to self control their weight. The NBA has been through the process. There was the case of the 7"4" player from BYU (Sean somebody) who had a lot of athletic ability but was a stick. They tried force feeding the guy until he was shitting foie gras and they still couldn’t significantly increase his bulk. He faded away with no impact on the league. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > [Shawn Bradley](http://www.dallasnews.com/img/photo/06-05/bradley9.jpg) - AKA ‘The Mantis’. [Looks like aging did what NBA coaches couldn’t](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/110161/). Not that he’s fat, but he’s fully filled out now. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/55 "2012-11-12T13:28:07Z")
Aging does that to a lot of guys - my husband as a teenager ate until the food was gone without gaining an ounce. He can’t do that any longer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/56 "2012-11-12T17:01:32Z")
I recall reading that hugely obese people (e.g. the immobile 700-pound person who shows up in the news) are often carrying lots of fluid in addition to fat. Water is 8 pounds per gallon, so one could add a significant amount of weight by storing water while consuming fewer than 30K calories. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/57 "2012-11-12T18:01:03Z")
I think that’s actually a good point made in the zombie posts about how being really seriously overweight is like a long-term body stress-test. I sure as hell know that if I weighed even 100 lbs extra, my knees would be GONE, as would most of my other joints, and there’s no way that my circulatory system would handle that extra load. It barely handles me! Also, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten 33,000 calories in a week before, let alone a day. Holy mother of god that’s a lot of food. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/58 "2012-11-12T18:41:52Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > 30,000 calories = 200 bottles (@ 12oz/ea) of Smithwick’s. > > Better? 🙂 Works for me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/59 "2012-11-12T18:51:45Z")
> [@danman](#): > > it still leaves me wondering though about the little switch in your head that simply tells your belly it is full. i know there have been thousands of opportunities for me to gorge on food and rarely would i eat more than i need at the time. i simply don’t need more food. > > maybe that switch gets messed up by being encouraged to eat more at a young age and in later life it doesn’t switch your hunger off when it should. > > i feel sympathy for people that are constantly hungry. I have a gut feeling that it is indeed the malfunction in the switch that tells you when you’re hungry (no pun intended). IMO when medical science delivers a medicine that can fix this, the obesity epidemic will wane. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307/60 "2012-11-13T03:01:57Z")
> [@danman](#): > > i have seen a lot of reality shows about the morbidly obese on tv. mostly shows from the usa. i am always astounded at the size of these people. i struggle to understand how a person could possibly become so huge. > > all the comments i have read here make sense. it would seem there are several factors that combine to result in this bizarre increase in body mass. > > i have never eaten a three or more course meal in my life. in my childhood my brothers sister and i were never served dessert. it was always one meal and a cup of tea or two. that was it. maybe appetite is conditioned from a young age. > > i read an article years ago that suggested the more choice of food you have you more you are likely to eat. like when you go to an all you can eat place. > > it still leaves me wondering though about the little switch in your head that simply tells your belly it is full. i know there have been thousands of opportunities for me to gorge on food and rarely would i eat more than i need at the time. i simply don’t need more food. > > maybe that switch gets messed up by being encouraged to eat more at a young age and in later life it doesn’t switch your hunger off when it should. > > i feel sympathy for people that are constantly hungry. The people that are so large they are essentially immobile need a “feeder”. [This is usually a relative or spouse.](http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/mother-son-evicted-due-to-obesity) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-become-morbidly-obese/458307.md?page=4)