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Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
I guess what I don't understand is why it wasn't a full-time job for your grandfather (presumably) not to be obese, or for most of the billion plus people living in China today.
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I would start with the BBC 3 part series I linked to above. If you are unsure as to why the 2 billion in China are not obese, well the simple answer is poverty and poverty.
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Just as I'm sure those who have never quit a VLT gambling addiction don't know how hard it is. And yet we don't have a lot of compassion, as a society, for people who blow half their paycheque sitting at a VLT on payday. We don't treat overweight people any worse.
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This is not true, how can I tell if you had or have a VLT addiction problem? Do you wear a t-shirt? But you can certainly tell if someone has a weight problem, even if you don't know why. I for example have been involved since Biggest Loser with lots of obese people and their problems, some of the major triggers for their weight problems>
- Childhood sexual abuse
- Bullying
- Abandonment by father after mother died
- Drug addiction
- Abusive husband
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The fact is that people who aren't addicted to VLTs (or overeating, or racking up credit card debt, or smoking weed) find it hard to imagine those habits taking over your life.
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That is truly one of the biggest issues, and what we are lacking, education on the subject of why people are overweight, well more accurately why they are obese. I said before empathy should be a starting point, however judgmental behavior is always leading the charge.
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A pretty large proportion of people have some habit that negatively impacts their life. I suppose we should consider that and try to be more empathetic to other people's habits. But still recognize that, hey, even if I'm obese and I should have empathy with the struggles of chronic pot-head, being a chronic pot-head isn't a good thing and it's okay to tell that to the chronic pot-head.
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Interesting you would compare those two. One, a chronic pot head has some health effects, no doubt. But it is quite fashionable, even cool. If you are someone who has massive problems smoking too much and it is effecting your life, you can hide that from the world quite easily.
But obese people? Nope, not only is it not cool to be obese, its treated pretty much universally as the person being lazy, dumb, has no self control, etc..
This while a massive part of our society has some detrimental problems and addictions, that can be hidden from society while obesity cannot and there for is judged and mocked.