Obesity Epidemic and Fat Acceptance

[NotAHenchwench]

I've heard/seen numerous people in my life who think exercise is boring, dieting is a waste of time, and couldn't care less about their appearance. I disagree with them completely but ultimately I think it is that person's choice to live that way.

Yeah... That's just one part in the cycle of being obese. That part normally comes after a failed dieting attempt. Hence why I dislike the word 'diet' and all it stands for.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Isn't that money provided by the fat people themselves? Still sounds personal to me.

Do you pay taxes?

It already costs more to be overweight or obese in many instances. I purchased some supplemental insurance a few years ago. There were 8 categorical rates, 1 being for the least risky, 8 being the highest-risk group. Initially, because of my weight, I was going to have to pay a much higher rate (7) until I requested a personal meeting with a representative. Once I provided her with my BMI, doctors records, proof of gym membership for decades, and she saw that I was more of a big man than a fat one, I got my rate reduced to class 2. My premium would have been double had I had to pay the rate of a morbidly obese person.

 

[Eggyman]

'Morbidly obese' is such a strange term.

It makes sense if you know the difinition of 'morbid', but... bleh.

 

[Timstuff]

The food companies want us to believe there is an anorexia epidemic, which is why they funnel money into the media to say that models are too skinny and that girls are getting poor self image from not seeing enough "real women" (and by "real women," they often times mean mildly fat to obese women). 2/3 of America is obese. That is 66% of the country. Only 0.6 are anorexic. That means the anorexia problem is only 1/110 as important as obesity, and yet the media gives it a completely disproportionate amount of mouth time.

Anorexia is a mental disorder no more or less serious than any other self-image related disorder. It is a problem, but it's a problem that less than 1% of Americans suffer from, and yet so many times a person who suffers from it gets paraded around as if to demonstrate that trying to be thin and fit is dangerous and that we should just accept being fat, and thus consume more food products. Being fat is not a mental disorder-- it is the result of unhealthy lifestyles, and therefore it is not scientifically the opposite of anorexia. If anything, we should be encouraging people to get more exercise and eating a healthy diet that their metabolism is compatible with, instead of just "accepting who you are" and being several pants sizes larger than your actual hips.

 

[Paradoxium]

I wish they didn't call it an epidemic. Epidemic means it infectious.

OH NOES A FATTY TOUCHED ME, ARRRGH I HAZ BEEN INFECTED WITH FAT. I GOTZ TO EAT NOW. NOM NOM NOM NOM..

 

[SuperFerret]

Epidemic doesn't mean infectious. It's just a recent, usually rapid uprising of a condition on a fairly widespread scale in a specific population. It's not an epidemic, but only because this has been going on for some time. Contagion has nothing to do with it.

 

[Paradoxium]

Dictionary.com disagrees. Person-to-person spread.

Yes so fatty people are infectious bunch since it is an epidemic.

Night of the Living Fat People

 

[Carcharodon]

Dictionary.com disagrees. Person-to-person spread.

Yes so fatty people are infectious bunch since it is an epidemic.

Night of the Living Fat People

Stick to economics:

In epidemiology, an epidemic (epi- meaning "upon or above" and demic- meaning "people"), occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience. The disease is not required to be communicable. Examples of epidemics are cancer, heart disease and swine flu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemic

Epidemic doesn't mean infectious. It's just a recent, usually rapid uprising of a condition on a fairly widespread scale in a specific population. It's not an epidemic, but only because this has been going on for some time. Contagion has nothing to do with it.

That doesn't mean it isn't an epidemic, especially if you follow the definition above.

 

[The Squirrel]

Even Webster says it can mean contagious as well:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epidemic

 

[Paradoxium]

Sure if you classify it as an NCD, on Non-Contagious Disease. Like the wiki example of heart disease and diabetes, but I am not sure I would classify it that way. It is often synonymous with infections and spread, as per that webster dictionary link

 

[SuperFerret]

Stick to economics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemic



That doesn't mean it isn't an epidemic, especially if you follow the definition above.

That was the exact definition I consulted to see if my facts were straight. Is the amount of obese people exceeding your expectations anymore? Especially based on recent experiences?


And yes, it can be contagious, but it doesn't have to be.

 

[BlackLantern]

you guys talk, Im going to go have some Twinkies dipped in gravy

 

[SuperFerret]

Make sure to wash it down with a Diet Root Beer float.

 

[Manic]

I've had a diet root beer float before. Not because I thought it'd be healthier to use a diet soda with ice cream, but because I accidentally grabbed the wrong can of soda from the store.

 

[SuperFerret]

Diet soda is a tragedy.

 

[Paradoxium]

Diet drinks give me furious gas.

 

[SuperFerret]

It's furious because you drank Diet Soda.

 

[Paradoxium]

That was like 4 years ago. My body does not react well to aspartame. I just time my sweets (pre-workouts), or only use honey to sweeten things up. Like a bowl of oatmeal or quinoa. Quinoa is king.

 

[Carcharodon]

Sure if you classify it as an NCD, on Non-Contagious Disease. Like the wiki example of heart disease and diabetes, but I am not sure I would classify it that way. It is often synonymous with infections and spread, as per that webster dictionary link

The answer to that is:

And yes, it can be contagious, but it doesn't have to be.

That was the exact definition I consulted to see if my facts were straight. Is the amount of obese people exceeding your expectations anymore? Especially based on recent experiences?

My expectations don't matter. You should be asking the CDC or something. Clearly, somebody thought it fit to classify this as an epidemic.

 

[SuperFerret]

I bet that somebody is a media person who's using it to create buzz and probably doesn't really know what it means.

 

[BlackLantern]

probably

 

[Paradoxium]

It is a hyperbole. Some of the ways they measure fat, overweight and/or obese is outdated. They should start measuring people based on body fat. Of course male and female bodyfat % differ in what qualifies as healthy or unhealthy.

 

[Carcharodon]

I bet that somebody is a media person who's using it to create buzz and probably doesn't really know what it means.

It was the WHO in 1997. I'd have to assume that they know how and when to apply the term "epidemic."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity#Epidemiology

 

[SuperFerret]

*resists Abbott and Costello routine*

In 1997, but have those expectations changed since then?

 

[BlackLantern]

im back from my gravy covered Twinkie binge