# Rant: the War on Fat **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329 "2006-03-07T01:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/241 "2006-03-16T03:15:16Z")
> [@woodflute](#): > > I don’t need your permission to exist, fella. Bites, don’t it? > > –James Excellent reply. There seems to be a hell of a lot of “you people suck and I’m so much better than you” going around. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/242 "2006-03-16T03:57:35Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > I was referring more of the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. These countries have similar cultures to the US and similar social problems to the US. I do recognize that, but there is a stunning number of Americans and Brits in Israel. Different culture, of course, but young people there love the same things young Americans do: cheap food, alcohol, weed (hash specifically, which makes you even hungrier!), dancing, clubbing. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/243 "2006-03-16T06:00:31Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Excellent reply. There seems to be a hell of a lot of “you people suck and I’m so much better than you” going around. And there seems to be a lot of people who only hear what they expect to hear, not what is actually being said. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/244 "2006-03-17T01:26:31Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > And there seems to be a lot of people who only hear what they expect to hear, not what is actually being said. I think I get the gist pretty good. Just for reference, I’m a skinny bastard, so I really have no dog in this fight, but you are coming across pretty aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/245 "2006-03-17T05:42:58Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I think I get the gist pretty good. Just for reference, I’m a skinny bastard, so I really have no dog in this fight, but you are coming across pretty aggressive. I’m in great shape, so I don’t have a dog in this race either. But we all have friends/coworkers/loved ones/relatives or whatever who do. If I’m coming across as as aggressive it’s because I’m sick of the wishy-washy way we’ve been programmed to do and say things so that we avoid at all costs possibly hurting someone’s feelings. Even if it would be in that persons’ best interest. Look, I know it’s a lot harder to be honest. It’s easy to pass the buck, not risk making someone feel bad. Tell them they look great; you’re not the one facing the medical issues down the road. But honesty doesn’t have to be mean. Telling a loved one they should lose a few pounds - and _helping_ them - is a lot harder, but it’s better for everyone in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/246 "2006-03-17T11:25:37Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > But I spent a week and a half in Israel, went all over the country and between the non-Arabic Jews–who are all drafted into the military at the age of 18–and the Arabs–who have no required military service–I can’t recall finding a single overweight person, not a one. Apparently you weren’t very observant. (Ariel Sharon anyone?) [This study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8653148&dopt=Abstract) showed that in Jerusalem the obesity rate for adults over 50 was \*25% \* in 1986. Hard to find an overall rate or a current one, but that’s high, especially for 20 years ago. So you must have seen some fat people. Maybe you ignored them. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/247 "2006-03-17T11:28:47Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > I’m in great shape, so I don’t have a dog in this race either. What? That would only make sense if you weren’t taking the “let’s be a dick to fat people” position. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/248 "2006-03-17T13:48:13Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > Look, I know it’s a lot harder to be honest. It’s easy to pass the buck, not risk making someone feel bad. Tell them they look great; you’re not the one facing the medical issues down the road. But honesty doesn’t have to be mean. Telling a loved one they should lose a few pounds - and _helping_ them - is a lot harder, but it’s better for everyone in the long run. If you think that the vast majority of fat people don’t know that they’re fat you’re deluded. I’m still brooding over sermon our priest gave at least a year ago. He said that to be good Christians we needed to point out to our smoking and overweight friends the error of their ways, and the damage they are doing to themselves. I thought, you know I think about the fact that I am fat quite often, and I obsess about my compulsion to eat because it’s the one really glaring issue I have. The only time I don’t is when I am around my friends who, while not praising me, are accepting and supporting of me wherever I am. Now you’re telling them to critique me as well?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/249 "2006-03-17T15:51:43Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Excellent reply. There seems to be a hell of a lot of “you people suck and I’m so much better than you” going around. Perhaps it’s my bias, but I see a good bit of effort going towards trying to distinguish between “you’re a wonderful person” and “it’s wonderful to be fat.” I’m just wondering if it is possible to say “It is not good to be fat” without pushing someone’s button. In just writing what I wrote, I’m imagining all sorts of “Don’t you think fat people know that,” or “you hate me” or “I already hate myself” or “I don’t need your permission to exist” responses. Note that none of those responses is pertinent to the statement “It’s not good to be fat.” Clearly it is a topic of great sensitivity, with any individual comment loaded with all sorts of meaning for different viewers. I really don’t think there is much “I’m better than you” being floated here. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/250 "2006-03-17T16:01:59Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > Apparently you weren’t very observant. (Ariel Sharon anyone?) This study showed that in Jerusalem the obesity rate for adults over 50 was 25% in 1986. Hard to find an overall rate or a current one, but that’s high, especially for 20 years ago. So you must have seen some fat people. Maybe you ignored them. I don’t know what to tell you except that I was there. Most (but not all) of the people I came in contact with or saw were Jews, who were (by mandatory draft) either current soldiers or retired soldiers. Now that I think about it, there were a few people (much fewer than here) who could probably be called medically overweight, but nobody I’d call “obese”. I see people who spill out of seats anywhere from two to a dozen times a day at my college, and didn’t see a single person who even came close in Israel. Keep in mind, BTW, that Jerusalem is a multi-cultural area with a lot of people who are draft-exempt. I know I said above that I was referring to draft-exempt people too, and I’m still sticking to my story: I didn’t see any fat ones, at least obese ones. But a city with a relatively large proportion of draft-exempt people like Jerusalem will surely have a relatively high rate of various marks of unhealthiness. From what I saw–and I’m going by my definition of obese, and I’m not sure what the definition used here is–I wouldn’t have called it anywhere near 25%, but who knows? Like I said, I was basically in Jew-only areas. How overweight the people who don’t have to fight are, I couldn’t tell ya. BTW, I agree wholly with **Hentor the Barbarian**. There’s a lot of accusations flying around in here that are a little dubious. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/251 "2006-03-17T23:00:34Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > I really don’t think there is much “I’m better than you” being floated here. Thank you. I’m glad someone gets it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329.md?page=12)