Obesity vs disability

[Donkmeister]

When was the moment that being a right porker stopped being your own fault and started being a "disability"?

Has anyone else noticed how the number of disabled spaces is increasing all the time, but the number of wheelchair users and other people with genuine restricted mobility seems to be falling?

Today I saw Jabba The Hutt's sister park in a disabled space, then waddle unimpeded into a pie-shop... Seriously, a PIE SHOP!!! Now, at this point I should mention that I have nothing against a woman with a bit of meat on her, and have had partners who were more Vanessa Feltz than Vanessa Paradis.

Mobility scooters, disabled badges, why not leave these for those who can't help their lack of mobility, rather than those who inflict it upon themselves? Why not steer them towards balanced diet and exercise? Sure it's more effort for all concerned not least the chub-meister, but the longterm benefits are far greater.

Why not make daily exercise classes mandatory for anyone receiving any sort of disability allowance or unemployment benefit because of obesity? We have clean-up programmes for heroine-users, why not have the same for cake-users?

 

[nickso]

doesnt matter how they got to be disabled, its whether they actually are.

i see plenty of wheezing slobs using disabled spaces but take little more than a passing interest as they will probably be dead soon enough from their excesses.

 

[noseall]

for the last 42 years i have been able to eat whatever i want and stay in shape, well weight wise at least.

there are some though that put on the lb's at a mere sniff of grub and struggle to maintain a healthy weight.

and there are those that gorge on food and are plain greedy slobs.

it must be difficult being addicted to food though, as some people are. imagine having unlimited and unrestricted access to something as impossible-to-avoid as food.

 

[Softus]

Obesity is just one side-effect of the way we now live. It goes hand-in-hand with fast food, chilled ready-meals in shops, and our ubiquitous readiness to shop in Tesco instead of Arkwright and Son. Time is at a premium, since the less of it we spend in the kitchen the more of it can be spend in shopping malls and watching 'reality' TV.

This is the entrepreneurial you can have it if you really want it society, and you can't have the upside without the downsides.

You don't like it? Then change it.

 

[mark vincent]

Arkwright and son are now out of business because Tescos opened a convenience store up the street and undercut them.

 

[Softus]

Tesco opening a store doesn't put anyone out of business.

People going there in preference to other shops is what does it.

 

[noseall]

i agree to a certain extent in that the levels of worldwide obesity, in the 'westernized' countries, has never been so prolific.

fat people have existed in this country even during less entrepreneurial times such as the second world war. i guess balancing hunger against very low wages forced families to fill bellies with whatever was cheap and available.

as Softus has said, having a plethora of fast food outlets does not bode well for a slim nation.

only an education and a conscience can do that.

 

[vsynth]

People over-eat for many reasons, but basically what me mean is that they eat more calories than they expend in exercise.

We don't say an olympian overeats, even though they might be on 6000 calories plus a day, because they burn off those calories with exercise.

Many people over-eat as a coping mechanism for stress,I must say that this is my view based on the exposure to people that I have seen over-eating, just like people that have to light up a fag when they are under pressure, or drink alcohol, or do drugs.

I have over-eaten in the past and was morbidly obese because of a stressfull relationship with my ex. I could have smoked maybe, or maybe just beat her up to quell the emotions going on inside my head...I won't say I wasn't tempted, but no...having low self esteem and also seen my mother over-eat because of stress when I was a child I guess I learned that eating was a way of coping.

The problem with over-eating is that you then start to loathe yourself, your body image, and then to cope you just eat more because that's the only way you know how to cope...it is a downward spiral ultimately to an early grave.

It isn't like drugs or alcohol or smoking, you can't just give up eating so getting to grips with the problem is harder...it is an addiction, it makes you feel better in the short term but makes you feel worse in the long term, just like any drug.

So I would say yes,from my perspective, some obese people DO need help,psychological/relationship help...so as with most questions there is no black and white, no single answer is correct for all cases.

For me the answer was to 'ditch the bitch', I should trademark that quote, without the asterisks , and found someone worth having a relationship with.

 

[tim west]

There can be many reasons why someone puts on weightand then cant shift it, for instance Doctors have prescribed steroids too easily for chest problems with the problems of weight gain because of it, Have seen it happen to friends who wernt overweight before.

Diabetes is another where because the body doesnt process food properly and the sugars arent converted to energy efficiently a vicious circle ensues where the person feels lethargic and sick and then eats more to try to compensate feels slightly better for a short time and which then makes the problem worse with fat and sugars stored which are basically useless to the body and so on the circle gets steadily worse and worse.

A lot of people dont want to be fat and realise the health issues but dont get enough help to supress the hunger, I sometimes feel drug addicts get better treatment and eating excessively can be an addiction

 

[Chud]

Not PC but what the hell...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FOMfTuAVOCc

 

[Donkmeister]

There can be many reasons why someone puts on weightand then cant shift it, for instance Doctors have prescribed steroids too easily for chest problems with the problems of weight gain because of it, Have seen it happen to friends who wernt overweight before.

I must admit I wasn't aware that could happen, I thought obesity was always down to a matter of calories consumed > calories expended.

It makes sense though, some drugs have nasty side effects. I was recently prescribed some tablets for a balance issue that included such side effects as:

*lactation (in men)
*death
*dizziness (surely that is the symptom I'd be taking them for...)
*growth of a pen15 (in women)

Needless to say, I didn't even start taking them. However, when milk hits £5 a pint I've got them in my bathroom cabinet, ready to rock!

 

[Chud]

There can be many reasons why someone puts on weightand then cant shift it, for instance Doctors have prescribed steroids too easily for chest problems with the problems of weight gain because of it, Have seen it happen to friends who wernt overweight before.

I must admit I wasn't aware that could happen, I thought obesity was always down to a matter of calories consumed > calories expended.

It makes sense though, some drugs have nasty side effects. I was recently prescribed some tablets for a balance issue that included such side effects as:

*lactation (in men)
*death
*dizziness (surely that is the symptom I'd be taking them for...)
*growth of a pen15 (in women)

Needless to say, I didn't even start taking them. However, when milk hits £5 a pint I've got them in my bathroom cabinet, ready to rock!

I'd hardly class death as a side effect

 

[JohnD]

Where are those doughnuts you mentioned?

 

[mattylad]

A colleague has just come back from a trip to the states.

From what he says I don''t need to worry about me being a few pounds overweight.

Over there, many were all too fat to walk!
They still got on the rides at Disney world though.

 

[John506]

Sure it's more effort for all concerned not least the chub-meister, but the longterm benefits are far greater.

"chub-meister"