Reply #12: As an overweight person....

[AZBlue]

I can tell you firsthand what it's like to be looked down upon by friends and acquaintances, to go into a job interview as #1 on their list and suddenly move down to the bottom of the list once they see you, to have strangers stare at you anyplace you go. It's not just the media, folks. It's people, individuals, and I'm sure some of them are the people here at DU.

I'm not even that heavy - I'm overweight, but not one of those riding around in motorized carts as one person listed here as an example of "those lazy fat people" (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of the post). Yeah, I've seen those people in stores too, but they are the minority, not the majority and not a viable excuse for the discrimination that occurs. Many overweight people are that way because of medical issues. Either they have a condition that causes them to gain the weight or they are on medication that does (as I am). Many others are depressed - a mental not physical cause, but a medical condition nonetheless and one that's an epidemic in our country.

Almost no one overeats just because they want to or are lazy - they have a need to - overeating is against our biological make-up and there's always a reason for it. And, here's something you may not know - not all overweight people overeat. My mother, for example, has metabolism problems and despite the fact that she eats all healthy foods in small regulated portions, she is twice her normal weight - and this will never change.

Does there need to be a movement? Unfortunately, yes. I don't agree with promotion of the idea that it's not unhealthy to be overweight. But, I think there needs to be an education of the American public as to why people are overweight. It would lower the incidence of abuse, intolerance and prejudice of the overweight. It would also educate some who are overweight about possible reasons behind their situation and some of the solutions out there for them.