Five Financial Costs of American Obesity

SuzieC, You are a really unhappy person aren't you. For you to judge me the way you do. YES I AM OBESE. Yes it is not healthy. Yes I'd like to lose it. But the grim reality is, it's not easy. This is something I have battled since I was 13. I almost got down to a healthy weight once. Then I got pregnant with my BLESSInG FROm GOD!....so I wouldn't trade her for the world. All fat and obese people are not disgusting and smelly like you may claim. They are just trying to live and work just like the rest of you. So if you see me on the street and I disguist you. Just look away. Then you won't lose your lunch.

I am a thin person, but that doesn't mean that I am healthy. Yes, being overweight can cause health problems like increased risk of heart disease as well as diabetes, however, thin people are also at risk. We cannot judge people because we feel like they are draining our health care when such a thing is far from true. The true drainers of our health care are those who do not have jobs or pay taxes, live off of welfare and expect everything to be handed to them on a silver plate when they do nothing. I respect those who struggle with being overweight. It is a hard life, and I know that I do not have the same struggles as you do, but as someone said, we all have our struggles and our so called faults. We need to learn to care for others and not judge them. Instead of being hypocritical, perhaps being encouraging to others would be a better way to go. Passing judgment is the easy route. Go out of your way to love someone who you may have trouble being around. Is that really so difficult for our selfish, egotistical, arrogant society to do?

p.s. my cholesteral is 142 my blood pressure is 120/70 i am not diabetic

hi suzie c
i am overweight and it is because i have hip dysplacia. i used to be a runner but now can't really walk. because i am only in my 30's surgery isn't an option at this point. why be so mean?

It takes effort to stay slim and healthy. Fat people have no self control and are probably lonely and pathetic people. I'd tell them to leave the house and go take a walk, but I wouldn't want to see them on my street. and would probably hit them with my car if it wouldn't total it. Take the candy bar out of your mouth and go to the gym. I'm sick of the excuses you all make about your gross bodies and smells. It's going to take some work to stay slim and beautiful like me, or you can stay as the hideous cows you are and blame all the pretty people. Your choice. Just don't expect me to cover your diabetes or other fat problems. You chose to be a pig.

I think because of this article I will stop eating altogether. I've done everything from nutritionsits to excessive exercise (and everything in between) to lose the remainder of my weight. It's socially embarrassing. While we have laws against hate speech, it's perfectly acceptable to discriminate against someone who is overweight. It's ok to not hire or promote someone who is overweight. It's ok to sit in meetings with people who drink excessively every night and take every 15 minute smoke break every day and have them talk about you and your weight right in front of the managers. I done with this. I can eat heathily and watch every morsel that goes into my mouth, get 8 hours of sleep each night, and work out at least 5 days a week for an hour each time and still be at my current weight. I'm so tired of hearing about how ugly and disgusting fat people are. I'm tired of paying more for out of style clothes and getting ridiculed by people who don't know me. Most of all, I'm sick of crap articles like this, when I know that half of my so-called normal weight co-workers are a drain on the health care system --with their STDs, binge drinking, smoking, and risky behaviors, who can't walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded--more so than I'll ever be. I'm going to go to the other extreme and become so anorexic so that I can stop reading crap like this AND become a true drain on the medical system with my osteoporosis, dangerously low potassium and sodium levels, and tooth decay.

I think people need to be a little more considerate of the "fatty" (as ownup posted). Just because someone is overweight or obese doesn't mean that they are responsable for the high cost of medical care. I happen to be obese and have not taken time off from work because of any health reasons. I have several skinny coworkers who are always calling out sick with this problem or that. People need to stop making broad generalizations, and be less judgmental of the people around them.

My work is retraining emotional (habitual reactions) Overweight people often are lonely, islolated, anxious and angry. Passive aggressive where they take out frustrations, etc by eating. Eating, is comforting, private, available. History may play a role as high fat, high carbs and fast food are often more available to lower income families.. Often overweight people are undiagnosed depressed with limited support systems available to them CR BC CA

I specialize in emotional modification and I've found that most obese people feel lonely,rejected isolated, they can also be suffering from depression that has gone undiagnosed. They typically find comfort in eating. This in my opion is a social problem. Lower income families may learn the habit of high fat or fast foods. I think the food is not the problem it is the coping mechanism that is solitary, comforting and easily available. CR. BC Ca

And I don't understand why everyone gets so worked up over this. Let people be fat, it's not like an ebola outbreak or something. It can't be fixed because people CHOOSE what goes in their mouths and how much activity they do. They purchase, they chew, they swallow. Their problem.

Why should I care? I don't know them. They have their own loved ones who care about them and I have my own, I have no reason to be concerned for some stranger's welfare. It's their problem that, for the most part, they probably created themselves.

I know lots of vegetarian athletes but size depends on the sport. We distance folk are skinny, yes, it's necessary for the sport (that's why we're often referred to as 'stick women'). My point was that if one eats more natural foods and does even moderate exercise, it's almost impossible to be overweight.