# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/61 "2006-03-07T16:11:19Z")
This topic has never gone well. This time will not be any different. Just sayin’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/62 "2006-03-07T16:11:55Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > How to stop it? Eat less. Or do 64% of Americans have pituitary problems? I’m on a medication that killed my metabolism and ultimately cause me to gain a large amount of weight. However, the medication allows me to continue to work rather than go on disability, so I made that choice - not easy, but I did it. Also, I have a new artificial hip and am waiting until I can afford to replace the other one. Walking around the house or getting into the car hurts terribly. I swim, I eat healthy every day, I’m fat. I’m starting to hate those commercials here in CA. with the little kids - “Mom, can I have some saturated fat today?” “Can we have grease for dinner?” “I want to die early” Gov. Arnold is obsessed with overweight children and these commercials have to be coming from his point of view. Does anyone think his wife, Maria Shriver, looks healthy? She’s a freakin’ skeleton! I heard a rumor that he knocked a french fry out of her hand and gave her aa talking to about gaining weight. Sheeeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/63 "2006-03-07T16:12:48Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know what the latest status is, but there has been research that suggests obesity may be linked to a virus. No, I’m not sure there’s a virus that causes obesity. I guess certain disorders do cause it, but I’m not so sure about a virus. It’s certainly true that some fat people do get picked on a lot, but I also know of other fat people that don’t often have such a problem and even if they do, it’s not a motivator to do something about their weight. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/64 "2006-03-07T16:25:21Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > What **Thudlow Boink** said. Overweight people can’t always be lumped into the same “eats too much” category. Thyroid disease, for example, can cause weight gain. So can chemotherapy. And how many people in the US and Canada do you think have thyroid disease or get chemotherapy? You can be guaranteed it’s more than just a few hundred. You can also be guaranteed that it’s not the case for a comfortable majority. > [@](#): > > There’s a whole host of other problems out there. It’s true that many people eat too much/exercise too little, but that **can’t be applied to everyone.** Anyone with an ounce of logic can realize that. No, but it can be applied to most overweight people. > [@](#): > > And it’s been proven that the BMI chart is garbage. I don’t know why it’s still being used, since it doesn’t take into account body fat percentage, which is what really matters. According to the BMI chart, competitive bodybuilders are unhealthily obese. No, it hasn’t been proven that BMI is garbage. It’s actually a quite accurate estimate for most people. It is true that there are people, like competitive bodybuilders, who it is inaccurate for. However, I’m going to safely assume that if you have a six pack and lots of defined muscles, you don’t need a BMI chart to tell you that you’re fine. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/65 "2006-03-07T16:26:25Z")
Wow. When reading the OP I was wondering how many posts it would take before some dumbass posted some simplistic shit steeped in ignorance. Post #2 cured my curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/66 "2006-03-07T16:50:00Z")
> [@beckwall](#): > > Does anyone think his wife, Maria Shriver, looks healthy? She’s a freakin’ skeleton! I heard a rumor that he knocked a french fry out of her hand and gave her aa talking to about gaining weight. Sheeeesh. Wow. I heard a rumor that she was eating a Big Mac, and he caught her, killed her, then replaced her with a robotic body double and put a flesh mask over the electronics. Sheeeesh. Can you believe it? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/67 "2006-03-07T17:06:20Z")
> [@bonobo\_jones](#): > > Well, I dunno. Doesn’t it take time to eat?? Or to wait in line at fast food restaurants? Yeah, much quicker to whip something up at home or go to a sit-down restaurant than to spend all that time at a _fast_ food place. :rolleyes: You seem to be under the (common) impression that obese people spend an inordinate amount of time at the dinner table, shoving in vast quantities of food. I’d bet that if you compared the diets of fat and skinny people, you wouldn’t see a huge difference in either quantity of food or amount of time spent eating. The thing is, eating healthy takes time, thought, and energy. And sometimes money. I think that one reason so many people are overweight is precisely because the quick and easy choices are also the unhealthy choices. And the efficient way to get around in a car culture is with – get this – a car. It’s not because so many people are lazy and hungry. It’s because our culture isn’t set up for health. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/68 "2006-03-07T17:25:25Z")
> [@Ensign Edison](#): > > I can see my joke wooshed some people. > > My point, about gay rights, to Miller, was what does starving people have to do with fat people? Do you actually think fat people are the reason there are people with too little food, like they’re snatching it away from the famished? What does the fact that this is a new development change? And I thought your first post to me didn’t make any sense… ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/69 "2006-03-07T17:28:58Z")
To add: From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website: > [@](#): > > Psychological and social effects > > Emotional suffering may be one of the most painful parts of obesity. American society emphasizes physical appearance and often equates attractiveness with slimness, especially for women. Such messages make overweight people feel unattractive. > > Many people think that obese individuals are gluttonous, lazy, or both, even though this is not true. As a result, obese people often face prejudice or discrimination in the job market, at school, and in social situations. Feelings of rejection, shame, or depression are common. Anybody who says this thread, and others like this, aren’t full of thinly veiled hatred and disgust towards obese people is full of shit. I’d like to see actual numbers on the percentage of obesity caused by overeating versus the percentage caused by other factors. The sad thing is, accurate statistics on this probably don’t exist, and you know why? Because people who overeat are reluctant to come forward because **other people will treat them like shit** , and people with medical problems are reluctant to come forward because **nobody fucking believes them** when they say they don’t overeat. Even here, when anybody steps up to relate their situation, they’re immediately jumped on by the holier-than-thous. One thing’s for sure, hatred towards fat people isn’t going to help make them any less fat. It sure hasn’t worked so far. The fat-bashers might as well slap a swastika on their arms while they’re at it, because their behaviour is not unlike the behaviour Nazis had towards anyone who was “inferior” to them. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/70 "2006-03-07T17:31:13Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > And I thought your first post to me didn’t make any sense… It was a joke. Which I’ve explained. Your post seemed like a complete non-sequitur, and I guess I still don’t understand what your point is. Yeah, lack of food is a more universal and historic problem than too much food. But ‘too much food’ is an oversimplification, and so what, anyway? That something a recent and local problem doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/71 "2006-03-07T17:37:54Z")
> [@Ensign Edison](#): > > It was a joke. Which I’ve explained. Your post seemed like a complete non-sequitur, and I guess I still don’t understand what your point is. Yeah, lack of food is a more universal and historic problem than too much food. But ‘too much food’ is an oversimplification, and so what, anyway? That something a recent and local problem doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. Well, keep working at it, I’m sure it’ll come to you sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/72 "2006-03-07T17:38:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Wow. > > When reading the OP I was wondering how many posts it would take before some dumbass posted some simplistic shit steeped in ignorance. Post #2 cured my curiosity. Well, it only took 68 responses until someone compared fat bashers with Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/73 "2006-03-07T17:39:31Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > The fat-bashers might as well slap a swastika on their arms while they’re at it, because their behaviour is not unlike the behaviour Nazis had towards anyone who was “inferior” to them. :rolleyes: You’re right. I want nothing more than to round up the fatties and kill them. But wait, if we put them in forced labor camps and starve them, they’ll be thin eventually and free to go, I suppose. Finally, a solution to the issue at hand. Moron. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/74 "2006-03-07T17:42:02Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Well, it only took 68 responses until someone compared fat bashers with Nazis. 68-2. Looks like we need a tie-breaker. Shall we compare the _number_ of “eat more less” to Nazi threads? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/75 "2006-03-07T18:05:41Z")
If one doesn’t want to be compared with a group that advocates hatred towards a specific group of people, don’t advocate hatred towards a specific group of people. It’s that simple. I’ve heard a lot of assholes mention, on this board and other places, how they _would_ like to round up the “fatties” and kill them. And I’m being called a moron for comparing apples to apples? That’s almost funny. The bottom line is, there’s no reason to treat people like shit because they are overweight. If it bothers you that much, be productive, not destructive. Stop discriminating already. Jesus Christ. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/76 "2006-03-07T18:18:20Z")
**Amazon Floozy Goddess** , while I’m on your side, I think your Godwinizing was just a little extreme. Yes, there are a few crazies out there, and to be sure obese people are objects of derision far more than is warranted. But I know of no actual movements to exterminate them. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/77 "2006-03-07T18:39:42Z")
What I don’t get is why the extreme hate for people who are fat? Who gives a shit? If someone’s fat, and they’re okay with it, why is it anyone’s business? How does it affect me? It doesn’t, so I don’t care. As for their health and looks-well, that’s THEIR problem, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/78 "2006-03-07T18:39:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > **Amazon Floozy Goddess** , while I’m on your side, I think your Godwinizing was just a little extreme. Yes, there are a few crazies out there, and to be sure obese people are objects of derision far more than is warranted. But I know of no actual movements to exterminate them. [I can think of one.](http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/turnaround/index.aspx) [And this guy is basically Hitler.](http://www.droxy.com/images/2005/08/richard-simmons.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/79 "2006-03-07T18:48:15Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > **Amazon Floozy Goddess** , while I’m on your side, I think your Godwinizing was just a little extreme. Yes, there are a few crazies out there, and to be sure obese people are objects of derision far more than is warranted. But I know of no actual movements to exterminate them. Seeing all the venom, ill-wishing and hatred is just a very scary thing for me, and I’m sure others. I was a fat kid. I had rocks thrown at me (and was hit by them), was beaten, and I have scars all over my legs from when a guy who used to call me a “fat ugly bitch” forced me to walk through a field of stinging nettles when I was 11. Some of my peers told me they wanted to kill me because I was too fat and ugly to live, and I honestly think they would have if they could have gotten away with it. I used to believe that that behaviour ended with childhood, but to see so many adults subscribing to it honestly terrifies me. I’m in very good shape now, but I’m stocky, nobody would call me skinny. I really do fear that one of these days I might be hurt or killed by a group of violent drunken teens who hate “fatties”. That’s why I just want all the unwarranted hating to stop. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/80 "2006-03-07T18:54:34Z")
This might be chicken-and-egg, but I would like to point out that a lot of fat people hate themselves or the way they look, or both, which is an open invitation to be treated like shit. Whether they’re fat because they hate themselves, or hate themselves because they’re fat, anyone they meet will unconsciously pick up on those signals. Some may respond with sympathy, others with aversion or even hatred. I know that _I_ react badly to anyone with self-esteem issues, fat or not, and it’s something I can control only with the greatest of self-discipline. This does not, of course, apply to the fat people who are happy about the way they look. And if our culture didn’t emphasize thinness as beauty so much, there would be more people who were happy about the way they look. But it isn’t, and there aren’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329.md?page=5)