Should obesity now be made socially unacceptable like smoking?

Question

I believe we should make obesity as socially unacceptable as smoking, partly because of the sheer pressure the condition is going to have on our health service. Obesity is likely to lead to a wide variety of related diseases, chief among which are heart disease, cancer, diabetes and arthritic problems... All of which is self inflicted as a result of being overweight. A very tiny percentage of overweight people can blame hormonal imbalances for their condition but for the vast majority of overweight people this is not a valid excuse.

You could argue that being near a fat person isn't going to have a direct effect on your health, like being near cigarette smoke. But the effect of widespread obesity on our health service will be very damaging, since the availability of that service will be severely reduced in the future for those of us whose illnesses are not self inflicted in this way. If we made obesity socially unacceptable today, we might be a healthier nation in future..

Answer 1

I don't think that we should be as tolerant of obese people as we have been in the past. I think that's partly why we have this epedemic. Fat people need to control their appetite. Say no to a twinkie now and then. They also need to get up off their butts and walk. People are getting lazy. We should not tolerate that any longer.

Answer 2

Who the HELL are you to tell somone how they should live their life? Whether it's smoking, eating or playing tiddly winks.

These overweight people pay their money in taxes too and they have an equal right to that money whatever the reason may be. If we follow your logic by eliminating potential "self inflicted" illnesses (ie: illnesses that could have been prevented by a modification of personal lifestyle) then we need to outlaw alcohol as there are far too many "self inflicted" alcoholics.

Then automobiles for if we didn't drive, "self inflicted" accidents would cease to exist. Then we need to get rid of any sports as they cause many injuries that would not happen if they did not play. Get rid of the bicycles, those could be dangerous too. Showers... Many people fall and injure themselves in showers... Those should be eliminated too because they are potentially dangerous.

Tell you what, How about we make ugliness socially unacceptable? All ugly people should have to wear a paper bag over their head. How about we make being crippled socially unacceptable... All cripples should be made to stay indoors because they should not be seen.

How about we make pregnancy socially unacceptable? There is always a chance that for some reason that baby could come out mentally or physically deformed. But since you knew the risks and the child was deformed it should be cast out because it does not conform to someone's definition of "normal" and the pregnancy was "self inflicted"?

Why don't we make stupidity socially unacceptable? Because then we wouldn't hear from ignorant people such as yourself.

Answer 3

i don't think you should make it socially unacceptable at all. For some people its very hard to lose weight even though they may well be trying. some people dont wish to and some can't control it. To say that you should make it socially unacceptable for FAT people to come out into the world is truely awful.its almost like saying "i know, lets make it socially unacceptable for everyone with CANCER to go down the pub as they are putting a terrible strain on our NHS serives" "what a bright idea!then maybe those pesky cancer sufferers will just bugger off and die". So some people are fat, get over it. yes most people are overweight, but not all of them are OBESE.and there is a vast difference my friend. Being obese doesn't put a HUGE strain on the NHS. Smoking is very different. If you want to, you can stop buying fags, losing weight takes a very long time (especially if you are older) and sometimes, people don't want to. Two people who i especially admire Jo Brand and Dawn French(comedy godess') have both told many press people to stuff it when asked about their weight.and quite right to.
If you actually look at it, we live in a world full of health fanatics salad shagging, sandle worshipping slim people. How many obese people do you see day to day?..no really.
Rant over.

Answer 4

You can't do that as you have no right to tell people how much of what they can eat etc. Instead, we could start rationing food (like during the war). Food is in such abundance here that it is impossible to control people over how much they eat. Food is also cheap so it's not like hard to obtain. If food was rationed then everybody would get their allocated amount and no more (this would be calculated by doctors and scientist who know how much we need). For example, regular gym goers (or anybody that can prove they take part in regular sporting activities) may get a slightly increased ration (but just enough to cover their energy expenditure down at the gym). The food that's been leftover after rationing could be sent to needy people (like in Africa where starvation is a real problem).

Answer 5

"Obesity" (why don't people just call it "being fat?) IS socially unacceptable and has been for many many years! How often do you hear fat people being laughed at, made fun of, made to feel ugly, sweaty, lazy stupid etc etc etc.??? All the time.

When the hell has it ever been socially ACCEPTABLE to be fat???? Get real! People take the mick out of fat people and look down on them and make them feel horrible all the time!!!! Fat girls are made to feel ugly and disgusting. Like my BF and his mates like to sneer at them and comment "wouldn't want THAT sitting on your face, eh?" Does that sound "socially acceptable" to you?????

I'm not "obese" (**** anyone who tells me I am - I'm 5'8" and a size 12.) But I still eat MaccyD's, cake, choc biscuits and all the stuff Jamie Olivers gets upset about (**** him - he's fatter than me) . I have one of those metabolisms that burns it off quickly plus I train in dance so get a lot of exercise. Granted I'm 8 months pregnant right now so a big "bigger" than normal and not exercising much but I fully intend to get back to it after baby's born.

Some people don't put a lot weight on no matter what they eat. Others only have to look at a piece of chocolate to gain a stone. Not matter what people say about healthy eating, eating breakfast, "avoiding" this that and the other food there will always be this different in metabolism. That quack Gillian McKeith and her cohorts seem to overlook this. Some people will ALWAYS struggle with their weight because its the way their bodies work. and some won't have to worry about it.

The only way they will stop people getting really fat is to ban McDonalds, make Chocolate a class A drug and the like, so people don't have the "choice" to eat these things. Some people (like me) can eat them every day and won't put much on, but others seem to baloon up after just one take away. And all the holistic quacks in the world won't change people's attitudes to food.

So you'd have to "ban" anything that is fattening or unhealthy and FORCE people to live on salad and fruit.

As I said, "obesity" (Ihate that silly word) is socially unacceptable and has been for many many years so I don't know what rock you've been hiding under if you think its not.

I feel very sorry for fat people though, they get treated so badly. And even people like me (size 12) are constantly being told they should be size 8. Well **** that. I nearly died of Anorexia in my teens (oh wow was I slim then you and all the health gurus would have totally approved of my 5 stone weight and size 6 frame. Trouble was I was given 6 months to live as a result) . . .

Answer 6

Why not? Then we can outcast all the people with a criminal history as they will hinder a great future society with their evil ways and of course they brought it on themselves. And you know how influential bad people are to our youth. Also, imagine the savings per state if we didn't have prisons. Then why not move on to the anorexic people who are teaching our children to starve themselves as it will create a weak society down the road for us and again, they do it to themselves. More savings as we won't need institutions to help them with their problem. Then most definately we need to outcast the non religious people as they lack certain morals for our supreme future society and like the others, they choose this for themselves. Think of the money churches will make with every citizen attending. Then we should probably start outcasting immigrants as they are not contributing to taxes to help pay for our great future society, they choose to not be americans. This could greatly save the nation as it will put more americans to work and of course the americans will pay the taxes owed. Hmm, who else should we outcast? Maybe Hitler was right, you can mold the perfect society as long as you outcast the right people. Who would have thought?

I'm not really that closed minded, but alot of people are (ahem).
It is great that we as a society are healthier because of how smoking is shunned. But at the same time it sad that we have to lose our freedoms. Regardless of what you think about smoking or drinking or anything, it still takes your freedom to smoke away from you whether you want to or not. Do you drink alcohol? Do you like it, because whether you do or not, it is still your freedom of choice to drink. Just because it is bad for our health do we take that freedom away too? How far are you willing to go with this? How about personal automobiles? People kill other people with their vehicles so should the government take away personal vehicles and allow only public transportation? Think about it!!! We can shun the whole dang world because they don't fit the image we feel they should be.

Answer 7

Of course I agree that it is a dreadful condition with many consequences for individuals and society. However, is making obesity socially unacceptable the right answer an,; how do you see that taking shape? Should fat people be banned for using public transit? Should children and adults be given guidance on how to best ridicule the over weight? I'm very serious, how do you make a persons weight socially unacceptable? Maybe round them up and send them to work caps like the Nazis did when they wanted to clean house.

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Answer 9

Is an injury that is sustained while doing dangerous sport such as soccer,rugby or boxing self inflicted.Should they be banned from health-care as well.Would you be giving them back the money that they have shelled out over the years to pay for their health-care or would you expect fat people to subsidise thin peoples health care.Perhaps you would prefer to see them dying in the gutter.Smacks of Thatcherism.
I see from your answers that you also hate men.Is there anyone on the planet that you do like apart from thin women.

Answer 10

To state that obesity is "self inflicted" is to ignore the implications of genetics as well as physiological effects. Genetics is out of the control of the individual (at least today). Physiological effects might or might not be treatable.

Comparing obesity to smoking, and to equate the ability to stop being obese to stopping smoking can be like comparing apples and oranges. they are both somewhat spherical, but don't taste the same.

All of this is not to say that there aren't some obese individuals who have control over their weight. I just can't see it being socially unacceptable when the individual is being harmed, unlike smoking where bystanders are being affected.

Your point about the effect on the health care system is valid, but as I have already stated, some people do not have the means to control there obesity.

Answer 11

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