How many obese people are actually obese due to illness and how many due to laziness?

Question

It bothers me that so many obese people say they are obese due to illness. I don't know where but I recall seeing a statisic that said less than 1% of obese people are suffering an illness that makes them gain weight.
It's my opinion that too many people are giving themselves "permission" to be unhealthy by saying they have an illness when they truly don't.
What does Y! Answers think?

Waynebudd- I think laziness is extremely fair, because it's true. It's laziness that drives people McDs instead of cooking in their own house. It's laziness that gets people into their cars instead of walking someplace.

Mystery- Very good points. I do believe in food addictions, but like any addiction I don't believe in allowing people to use it as an excuse.

Chula- Good for you, for owning up to your own mistakes and making the effort to fix them. I have a lot of respect for people who don't hide behind excuses.

Victory- If I ever have that situation occur in my life I'm sure it'll be difficult. But I also won't just lay down and say, Oh I'm fat because of this pill...I'll do everything I can to keep myself healthy.

BTW I used to be overweight. I wasn't obese, but I had a BMI of 26, and a body fat percentage of 30%...extremely unhealthy. I didn't make excuses though. I admitted that it was my fault I'd let myself get that way. And, I fixed it. It wasn't easy, or fast but I worked for it.

Mompoo- Do you think you deserve an award?

MrsRackle- Very good, thoughtful answer.

Chris- Good points

Cristy- Why is it my business? Because as a taxpayer I end up PAYING for the lazy people who get those "free" electric wheelchairs because they don't want to walk. The "Free"ness of the wheel chair means the taxpayers shelled out for it. Many obese people "can't" work, so who pays for them? TAXPAYERS...I don't want to pay for lazy, lazy people.

Answer 1

I agree with your comment regarding too many people giving themselves permission to be unhealthy. In my opinion it is a gross form of self abuse, and even a form a child neglect when a parent allows a child to become obese. I often wonder how taxing obesity is on the medical system and how heavy obesity related diseases hits the tax payers pocket?

Answer 2

I'm in two minds about this. Maybe if the benefit was for a certain time and a condition of recieving it would be for the person to take active steps to lose weight and maybe couselling to deal with any underlying psychological cause of the overeating (if there is one). If someone wasn't prepared to do this, then no benefit. There could maybe be an exception if they could prove a genuine medical reason for being so overweight, if there is such a thing - I know some medications can increase weight, but honestly, I've known some people this would apply to and they were never so obese as to mean they couldn't work.

Answer 3

About 1 in 50 have a medical problem that makes them fat... Look back at photos of people from the 1970's or earlier- hardly anyone is fat... As an elementary school student in the 70's we had 1 or maybe 2 kids who were overweight in each class, and even those were being fed wrong a lot of the time. We all got our 3 square meals a day too.

Answer 4

I agree. It's no mystery why I'm fat. I eat too much. Period. I eat fast food & out of vending machines. When I stop eating all the junk, I lose weight fast. People make excuses but the truth is, it's easier to be fat. You can eat what you want, when you want to. I don't know how many people have said to me "I just can't lose weight" just as they're finishing off a Big Mac. I saw Minnie Driver once on the View and I guess she had gained then lost a bunch a weight for a role. One of the women asked her "Ohmigod, how did you lose the weight?" And she seemed really annoyed at the question. She said, "I ate less and moved more." I think about that alot. It really is that simple. You don't have to call Richard Simmons and cry or try the latest diet fad. Stop shoveling in the food, and get off the couch!

Answer 5

Honestly, I have a weight problem and am probably considered obese medically speaking. And my problem is that I eat too much and I am very lazy. I have done this to myself. So, I don't know why people all of a sudden have this "it's not my fault I'm fat-it's a disease" thing. I kind of think that people are trying to turn "fat" into a protected class like it is a disability or something. If anything I can see it being an addiction (like a food addiction) but not a disease.

Answer 6

It really depends on what the illness is, and Id bet that an illness is more true than what you would like to think. Of course there are those who dont live a healthy life style, that can cause weight gain, genetics, child bearing and raising,diabetes, Kidney disease,depression,then there are also medications that cause weight gain, and once its on, its harder than you can imagine to get it off and keep it off.My question for you is Why is it your problem or your business and why should it bother you for someone else to be obese?You dont have to deal with there problems, and with the looks stares, difficulty walking breathing ,or just plain living and coments people make it only makes it more difficult for that person.It seems to me I should give you the same advice my 9 and 10 year olds get Start focusing yourself, your body, and your health, because #1 you cant change anyone else but you can change youreself!#2 Stop worrying about what other people are doing and tend to your own business because all your doing is having negative thoughts about something you cant change.

Answer 7

WEll, I will say that the people who usually can't understand why folks get obese are usually young folks who haven't been around long enough to get obese (the rates of obesity go way up the older you are).

That said, people say they are obese due to illness because society is so judgmental of obesity, and so they try to give themselves a break with a sorta subconscious little white lie so they can feel better. In my opinion. I think there is a significant subset of people who are taking medication that screws up their metabolism/increases appetite, and I'd say that's more like 5% of people (anyone with bipolar or schizophrenia, and many with depression or epilepsy, too).

There was always a lot of evolutionary pressure on people (and animals too) to eat as much as possible, because you never know when you will get another meal, pressure to eat the most fatty, starchy stuff as possible, because it has the most calories, and pressure to conserve energy (minimize exercise) because it burns calories that are so hard to get. Now that we have office jobs/TV remotes/cars/all the food we could ever want, for cheap!!! our brains and bodies just cannot deal with it. To stay slim now, you either have to overcome your evolutionary programming, which is very hard, or be lucky to have the genes to be more hyper/have lower appetite.

Oh, and on the judgmental "lazy" thing, do you really think there are more lazy people now than there were 30 years ago? Then how come more people are obese? How come people's dogs and cats are fat? They want kibble just like we do and like to lay around too, because they are products of evolution just like we are.

Answer 8

I cant speak for others but i know of someone who is obese and uses the excuse of not exercising due to back problems, too tired, cant sleep etc etc etc etc actually its amazing the amount of excuses one can come up with....lol however i believe it is due to laziness cause this person has been this way all their life and in other areas too. Blaming others for the weight is when i know she has really lost the plot. I know that this person also has had thyroid testing etc to see if there is a medical reason for the obese problem and all come up the same......normal. Just my experience with one person though, i don't know of any others....

Answer 9

Im fat, always have been all of my life. I have called being fat an illness, I could simply change my lifestyle, just dont feel like it. So Yes, to answer your question it is due to laziness. It is true though a lot of my people need a scapegoat when it comes to they're weight problems... What bothers me is that most people like to call it laziness, as if you are'nt supposed or allowed to be fat, When limited mobilty or inability to see one's feet come into play then it can be called 'obesity'. Besides you should try being fat one day, listening to the bullshit spewed out by our health-wise nation.. my opinion is that this country isnt getting fatter its getting better at using its own people as a target for economic gain weight loss medication, healthy foods (not fruits/vegetables),cosmetic applications, plastic surgery. Why make a fat person, skinny quickly when you can lure away money by make them feel bad about themselves. Obesity isnt a problem, its only a problem because its easy to use us as a scapegoat for America's unhealthy habits.

Answer 10

u r right!
less than 1% of obese people are actually overweight.
Well, if you were obese, would you like everyone to call you lazy?
it is like smokers, they say they are trying to quit, but they aren't making an effort.
the obese people just want others to think they are at least trying because in todays society, if someone doing something harmful to themselves says they're trying to get better, it makes the listener feel better about that person.
The obese people most of the time were to lazy to get up and stop getting fatter, and they're not going to get up now to get skinnier... especially when they give others and excuse which makes them look good.

the fact is, america is getting lazier, america is getting fatter, and there isn't anyone who can make these obese people get healthy.
my friend died of a heart attack and he was obese.
his children were starting to get obese and as soon as their father died, they totally turned their life around.
As soon as an obese person has a heart attack or knows someone who has health problems due to obesedy, we can only hope they'll turn their life around and keep themselves away from snack foods 24/7, and hopefully, away from death.

hopefully this answered your question.