Obesity Equality Groups, is this trend becoming a bit too ridiculous

[Shocky]

A picture like that, and others, are posted on billboards around the Cincinnati area. The Text on the billboards reads, Do Right Cincy, quit killing our kids. There are about a dozen or so of these billboards around the city. These billboards are placed in communites that Children's Hospital of Cincinnati says has the highest obesity demographic.

Of course in our hyper sensitive politcal overly correct world we live in, people, mostly obese, are offended by it. Obesity Equality groups have come into town claiming that those images are offensive and that obese people should be accepted for who they are.

Is this not the most ridiculous thing you've ever read. Maybe i'm an insensitive prick, but these people have no rights. They aren't a separate group of people, they're fat, plain and simple. Outside of glandular problems, obesity is a self inflicted problem that many people want to blame it as a disease. It's the refusal of obese people to take action and responsibility for letting themselves get out of control that lead to obese children.

People that have obese children, again outside of a glandular problem, should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, and should lose certain rights as parents. If a child was malnurished, the governement would step in and take care of that child, and the child would be removed from the home. Why not in a situation like this? When a child can't move or runs out of breath simply by walking up stairs, that's a problem, and a terrible problem, an unfair problem for a child that knows no different because their parents stuffed their faces.

I for one love the billboards. They are meant to piss people off, and they are doing their job. The billboards are a cold slap of reality for a group of people that want to place the blame for their condition on someone else instead of taking a hard look in the mirror. Am I right, or am I just an insensitive prick?

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'd say you're a little bit of both. lol But that's just because sometimes the best way to break through to people, isn't always the cold hard slap in the face type of truth.

I get that obese people shouldn't get any sympathy (barring their disorder being an actual illness) because noone forced them to become the way they are. But at the same time, all we're doing.. be it negative or positive, is reflecting the spotlight back onto them.

Obese people cry out for attention in trying to place blame on anything other than the lack of responsibility most of them have. But in turn, with billboards such as those it's the American public trying to reflect an equal spotlight, only in a reverse manner in disrespecting them because they're fat.

So what, fat people are what they are. I'm not going to feel sorry for them for becoming what they made themselves, but I'm also not going to punish them by mocking them, or making a public statement out of them because they don't wish to change their lives.

Bottomline is this.. if a child is involved, Social Services need to step in in the same manner they would with a child that's been abused or not cared for or feed. Obese children are savable. Obese Adults aren't. At least not in the same ways.

Regardless though, while I don't shed a tear for anyone who does something to themselves and refuses to change it, yet only complain about it. I'm not going to sit and mock them for it either. Sometimes a line needs to be drawn.

You said yourself the Billboard's slogan was.. "Quit Killing Our Kids". Well, that should reflect to certain people, not everyone. It's not my fault some fat couple has a fat child. So what am I suppose to do about it? (In other words, it's a public billboard that isn't directed at the entire public, so it's out of place)

 

[Rusty]

Yeah, I'm sick of obese people crying out for attention and thinking they should deserve special attention from everyone. The fact is, 90 percent of obese people had control over their weight and food allowance, but they decided to go overboard and stuff themselves up. Why should I feel sorry for people that don't want to exercise but would rather eat junk food all day long? As Will said, complaining about it isn't going to get you anywhere. There are loads of different ways to lose weight nowadays. Take my own school for instance, there are many teens my age who are largely overweight who I see everyday. When I see them, I think to myself "How can they possibly allow themselves to get like that?".

The sad thing is, more skinny people I know are more focused and determined to get fit by exercising often but yet they aren't the ones with the problem! Sure the blame can be placed on society and general as work employment has increased as many people need to work in order to survive or even to buy clothes or entertainment goods due to food prices and gas prices rising enormously. Since more parents in particular are working, they might not get enough time to cook dinner for many days of the week, therefore fast food outlets like McDonalds and KFC are the easiest and quickest way to go.

But so what if they eat junk all the time? It's not hard once you put your mind to it, to get in the gym and to work all that fat off. That billboard that Shocky mentioned, was supposed to piss obese people off. It was supposed to get them angry and to hopefully have an influence on large people. Until they sweat their asses off exercising day and night, I refuse to feel sorry for them as they don't deserve it. Obese people shouldn't be treated no different to any others. Many parents should be blamed for child obesity as they are the ones who go shopping for food, they are the ones who cook the meals and they are the ones who should keep an eye of what their children eat everyday. Instead of packing chips and fatty foods in their lunchboxes, pack fruit and vegetables instead. If only parents followed this simply logic, obesity levels wouldn't be as high as what they are today.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

Fuck the fat people!

Sorry about my language, but I fail to see how a load of obese people(90% of which is self inflicted) can whine and bitch about being persecuted.

Like the fatties who sued Macdonalds for making them fat, or the fatty guy who moaned at a cinema because the seats are too small. Instead of moaning and expecting a handout, go to the gym or even better, stop eating so much.

You can moan about oh I get these hunger pains. So what? If a smack ridden druggie can go cold turkey, Im sure the fat bastards of the world can put down the Doritos and just say no. Hell, if you want to nibble something, eat celery. It burns of energy because you get little or nothing from eating it(strange but true)

Obese people should be made to feel guilty, just like smokers are forced to(im a smoker, and I feel pissed off that fat bastards dont get moaned at to "quit")

Smoking is bad yes, but it generates a lot of tax to put into the system. Fat people just pay the food(which I think only certain aspects are taxed in the UK, like Cakes)

So for example, my pack of 20 Marlboro(im a wannabe Yank) costs me just short of 6 quid, id say 4 quid of that goes into the Governments pockets(based on the fact 20 marboros cost 3 euros in Greece, which is about 2 quid).

A fat twat who pigs out on biscuits pays squat, yet ends up with diabetes and a serious heart condition.

But of course, its the smokers who are putting the strain on the NHS...

 

[AFC1986]

In a way I feel sorry for obese people as they are looked upon as a joke, but at the same time they only have themselves to blame as nobody is forcing them eat as much as they do. I think in a lot of cases where children are obese, the parents are totally at blame as they should be feeding their kids healthier foods or at least control the amount of food they are eating

 

[Tim]

It depends, if it's the child's fault, then it's their own fault and they should take all the blame for it. But if it's the parents fault, well, I don't understand why a parent would do that to their child. Wouldn't they want their child fit and healthy?? If I was a parent I would want my child to be healthy.

But fat people shouldn't really be debated about like this. It's usually their own fault for being fat, and then they bitch about being fat as if the world will change for them. Fat people should just be looked upon as normal people if they act like normal people though, not pointed at and being talked about behind their back.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Mostly everyone has hit the points that I would've made had I come across this thread earlier.

In terms of obesity, I can't see feeling any pity for those that don't have a true medical problem. My father is obese and it ruins a lot of things in his life - to the point where he can't even bend down to picks things up, is always breathing heavily, he's in near constant back and leg pain, etc. But it isn't like he has some malfunctioning metabolism or anything. He's simply too lazy. Every time he's been on a diet (and failed at every single one of them) he's tried to pawn some of the responsibilities on others by saying "you have to keep an eye on me" and "you have to keep reminding me" and such. Sure, it isn't too bad to ask for some support, but in a harsh and objective point of view, I shouldn't have to do ANYTHING to help you in a diet. Why should I keep reminding you, if looking down and seeing yourself this big isn't enough of a reminder? Lol. So many people that are overweight have such a problem with weight loss in more of a mental fashion than actually a fault in physicality. That's why you always hear of people that try to convince others to go on a diet with them at the same time. "My ____ and I are both on Weight Watchers, and, side note, we'll start cheating on the diet in a week and quit completely in 2 or 3 weeks tops". How many times can you "treat yourself" on a diet before it negates the diet's purpose? And as far as exercise goes, it must be difficult to get any worthwhile athletic activity if you're that overweight, but if you start small and just walk, you'll eventually make it easier and easier.

The other issue is whether or not its ok to criticize overweight people. I don't see why not. As we've all established, the majority of people aren't suffering from something that they can't solve themselves. Its not morally correct to ridicule someone with a mental ******ation, as they can't help it. Its not morally correct to discriminate against anybody based on their ethnicity or gender, as they can't help that either. But if you have the option to lose weight, you're open for some arrows. I once wrote an article titled "My TV Says I'm Ugly, Not My Mirror", which dealt with the generic topic of people complaining that the media's standards are too high. These days, nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions. Violence in the media is the reason why people kill, not the people themselves. If you're fat, its McDonald's problem you ate so much, not your inability to judge portions. So forth and so on. Ridiculous. Sure, nobody likes being made fun of, but obesity isn't the same as simply being "unattractive". There are no immediate health risks if you just have a giant nose or you're balding or something of the sort. Weight gain leads to higher percentages of heart problems, it inhibits your daily activities....could go on and on. It does no help if you tell someone who is obese that they're perfect as they are, as they won't want to change. If you criticize them for it and tell them that there's one glaringly obvious aspect about their appearance and health that they should upgrade, it may (doesn't work for all) plant the motivation in their head to better themselves.

All in all, I view obesity in the same light as I do drug/alcohol addiction. You knew perfectly well and in depth what the consequences were beforehand and you still did it, so you garner no sympathy on my behalf. Granted, some heavy kids are a product of bad parenting, but they still have the option of losing the weight. I wouldn't condone being a total asshole to someone due to their weight, along the lines of like, "movie villain harassment" or anything, but to say that a billboard that uses negative reinforcement (in this case, making them feel bad and trying to motivate them to remove that feeling) is wrong is just merely displacement of responsibility. Its not up to the rest of the world to make you feel good for "being you" if you're a downgrade.

 

[klunderbunker]

Geez here we go again. I am in complete agreement with what everyone here has said. People who are obese outside of conditions beyond their control need to let it go. I have been overweight, not obese, but big my whole life. If a sign like this was put up with my picture on it, I wouldn't moan and bitch about it. I'd get my ass on a treadmill and lay off fast food. Yes, it is a bad thing to have to go through, but this isn't something that you're cursed with. Its something taht you brought onto yourself. If you want people to stop making fun of you, then make yourselves something that shouldn't be made fun of. Yes I'm insensitive, but I don't care. Its absurd to have someone who brought this onto themselves claim that its unfair. The signs are a good idea. Maybe it'll wake a few parents who use McDonalds as a babysitter wake up.

 

[Doody-ka-ka]

Geez here we go again. I am in complete agreement with what everyone here has said. People who are obese outside of conditions beyond their control need to let it go. I have been overweight, not obese, but big my whole life. If a sign like this was put up with my picture on it, I wouldn't moan and bitch about it. I'd get my ass on a treadmill and lay off fast food. Yes, it is a bad thing to have to go through, but this isn't something that you're cursed with. Its something taht you brought onto yourself. If you want people to stop making fun of you, then make yourselves something that shouldn't be made fun of. Yes I'm insensitive, but I don't care. Its absurd to have someone who brought this onto themselves claim that its unfair. The signs are a good idea. Maybe it'll wake a few parents who use McDonalds as a babysitter wake up.

Completely agree.

I've been overweight but I'm just big now, so I know how it was like.
To be honest, it was simple as hell, don't eat unhealthy food. It's not harder than stopping with smoking/drugs/alcohol, actually it's easier. You get the same frickin sensation in your stomach from eating a banana that you get from eating a cheeseburger.

And seriously, parents with fat kids under the age of like 14 should be seen as criminals. What they're doing is worse than hitting your children, not that I approve of that. You have NO controle what so ever over your food when you're that young, and you don't understand what it means to get fat at all. It means it's harder to get friends, harder to be taken seriously, and harder to participate in any form of activity. And the worst part is, WHEN you realize that you're fat at the age of like, 15, it's too late. It's so fucking hard to lose weight when you're that young. Because you don't decide what's being brought home to eat, your parents do. And they're a probably not going to stop buying candy and McDonalds just because you want to lose weight. So it's a pretty shitty circle to be in for kids.
I started to lose weight when I was 17-18, when I started to have a little more controle over everything.

Seriously, stop fucking blaming society, blame your parenting skills.

/rant over

 

[SilentMassacre]

I'm overweight as hell. I'm 18 years old, and I weigh 356 lbs. I have nobody else but my own self to blame for being overweight, I do not look to weigh that much because my height balances it out, i'm 6'6". I think most overweight people have their lack of self-confidence to blame for calling it a disease, I have low self-confidence but I don't say.. "um, glandular problem" or "IT'S A DISEASE!" I just say the simple thing, i'ma fatass, I ate too much fried chicken, is there a problem? I don't exercise or anything, I dunno why.. I'm in perfect health, no heart problems, high blood pressure, just a fatass. Simple.

 

[dirtyshubb]

Now before i say this let me just say that i understand and agree to a certain extent with everyone that you shouldnt have to feel sorry for overweight people because for nearly all the cases it is their fault but...

I can understand where these groups are coming from, yes its a good thing to point out the bad effects of overeating and being obeese but to show pictures that are only there if we are honest is to make people think "Fuck i dont want to become a disgusting fatty like them" does target people out and could/will lead to bad feelings towards fat people.

Now what i mean is we should be able to teach the pros of not overeating without having to demonise people who are fat, thats just like using them as sacraficial lambs to get a point across.

Also another point i would like to make is that taking the attitude that "they chose this so fuck em" i just cant agree with, its pretty much the same as if someone demonised a religion and using this excuse to protect yourself from criticism.

Now im not a big fan on religion (in fact im against it overall but thats a different matter) but in a world where we are meant to accept people for what they are and how they choose to live their life this just goes totally against it. Like i said yes we should point out how bad for your health it can be to live like this but we shoudlnt have to do it at peoples expense like this.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Well I used to be a little chubby when I was a kid; I was never much for sports, not very athletic at all... and well yeah, my parents definitely did not think too much about what we/I ate (and they still don't - whenever I come home these days and see the way my mom cooks I just think to myself: "OMFG" - tons of fried stuff, everything basically cooked in/with butter, a lot of carbos, and little to no veggies, and of course the occasional (or regular) fast food dish). So one thing led to another, and everything together to a pretty low level of self-confidence lol.

Thankfully I kind of outgrew that a bit during adolescence, however the un-athleticism always remained, so even though I was not exactly "chubby" anymore, but still not really fit.

I guess I started going to the gym after I had started university... in my first year or so (without any regular physical exercises like I used to have at school), I actually put on almost 20 pounds again (which was not all bad, since I was ok for my height I guess), and thought - "Well, I really should do something or this will keep up and I'll not look "ok" anymore but just grow fat". So that's why I started going more or less regularly; I still take breaks from my routine a little too often, but sometimes I just don't have the necessary time for a month or two if there's a load of work to do at university; but I try to go as regularly as I can. Meanwhile I'm maintaining 160lbs at a height of 5'9'' right now, which is pretty ok... A bit more "solid" than I used to be, though still no sixpack lol (though I'll never have one, I just still eat too much junk food for that). In any case, I personally just feel better when I find time to do some regular working out... a lot more energy, plus you build up more self-confidence if you find your looks more attractive I guess.

So I really don't understand people who complain about their weight, but really don't do anything against it - and I personally think, a diet alone is only half useful; if you do some sports along with it, then you can achieve some results... But dieting alone will just ruin your mood since you basically never can eat what you want. If on the other hand you practice some sports together alongside, you can eat a lot of more stuff and still maintain your weight since your body just needs that much more energy, it's really simple.

I believe especially in America (but of course in every developed country as well), obesity is becoming a huge problem... but as many of you have pointed out, other than when obesity is truly induced by health problems, I really don't think overweight people should play themselves up that much. If they have all those problems they need to complain about, then THEY should do something about it, and not EVERYONE ELSE. Why should any city/state/enterprise use money to accomodate the needs of massively overweight people, when those people themselves would do a good thing both for themselves and their health, if they just got their asses in gear and actually DID something about it, instead of only complaining all the time.

It's really not that hard; but it is truly difficult to feel compassion for someone who is just plain out too lazy to do anything, and resorts to complaining in order to gain some (sort of) positive response from the public, instead of only stupid jokes and comments. Of course, there are always those few who can't do anything about it, who really do have a disease. Those of course are exempt. But for all the others, who just prefer to stuff themselves with junk food all day and never even consider going to the gym or working out for a few hours every week, I really have no love left too. May seem a bit hard, but at the end of the day, everyone is responsible for themselves. So don't blame it on the others if you can't take care of yourself, just because you are too lazy.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

A picture like that, and others, are posted on billboards around the Cincinnati area. The Text on the billboards reads, Do Right Cincy, quit killing our kids. There are about a dozen or so of these billboards around the city. These billboards are placed in communites that Children's Hospital of Cincinnati says has the highest obesity demographic.

Of course in our hyper sensitive politcal overly correct world we live in, people, mostly obese, are offended by it. Obesity Equality groups have come into town claiming that those images are offensive and that obese people should be accepted for who they are.

Is this not the most ridiculous thing you've ever read. Maybe i'm an insensitive prick, but these people have no rights. They aren't a separate group of people, they're fat, plain and simple. Outside of glandular problems, obesity is a self inflicted problem that many people want to blame it as a disease. It's the refusal of obese people to take action and responsibility for letting themselves get out of control that lead to obese children.

I will both agree and disagree with you. I will agree with you that obese people should not be offended by billboards like the one you mention. I say this not because I think these billboards are not uncouth and are, instead, a good, hard slap in the face that will move obese people to action, but because I think that obese people must be resigned to the fact that people will always look down upon obesity and see those that are obese as inferior. Moreover, I do agree with you that obesity results from choice; mainly, a choice not to be physically active and to eat more than others do. Thus, I will have to further agree that obese people will have to face a harsh reality that is of their own doing.

However, I will have to strongly disagree with you about Obesity Equality Groups. If used to end discrimination against obese individuals in hiring for jobs not requiring intense physical activity, I am all for Obesity Equality Groups. The one misconception about obese people that must end, in my opinion, is that their physical appearance entails laziness in all its forms and also stupidity. Sure, obese people may not live as long a life as more physically fit people. Sure, obese people may not get laid by people besides those that are similar to them in physical appearance. Sure, obese people may have to pay more for their clothes or for their airfare (they do, after all, require more clothing material and room). However, I fail to see how someone's obesity can affect their ability to do a job that, as I said before, does not require intense physical activity.

 

[X]

I understand your point Shocky, but it's flawed. Because I'm willing to bet you'd have no problem if the billboards were of extremely thin people with captions reading "Gain Some Weight". If that were the case, everyone would be screaming about how insensitive it is to those with eating disorders. And technically speaking, obesity is an eating disorder. Which is an extremely delicate subject.

I get what you're saying, but it doesn't hold any weight. They're completely justified in asking for it to be removed, because it is offensive to overweight people, because it sheds them in a negative light. Should it be removed? I personally don't think so, because the negative effect is has is rather miniscule (but still exists). But in this PC world we live in, is this really that hard to swallow?

Because as I said, if the billboard was urging anorexic people to gain weight, you know that billboard would be down faster then you can say "sensitivity".

Further more, the apparent hatred of obese people I'm seeing so far in this thread is fucking ridiculious. These people's lives are already fucking miserable in most cases, but it's not enough that they can't get a date, hate themselves, and will probably die before they're 40. No, we should insult them as well, right? Because clearly thats the right thing to do. Who gives a fuck if they want a billboard taken down? With all the shit that these people probably have to put up with for being fat, does it really matter? And yeah, most of them did this to themselves, but does that mean they deserve to die of heart failure? That they deserve to be ridiculed?

I hope you people realize that overeating is one of the most common symptoms of depression that there is. A large portion of obese people continue to over-eat not simply because "they like food", but because of mental issues. Some eat to comfort themselves because they don't like their lives, others eat to punish themselves because of self-esteem issues. It's really not very different from drug addicts. But it's so fashionable and in-vogue to give drug-addicts sympathy, but no, not the fat guy. Both of their problems are as a result of their own fault.

And yes, obesity is a disease. Just as anorexia is a disease. Obviously it's not exactly breast cancer, but it's still a disease. The chicken pox is a disease.