New Surgeon General catching flack because of her weight.

[Liberal_in_LA]

Does it matter what the doctor weighs?


By Julie Deardorff
August 10, 2009

As a registered dietitian, Sharon Salomon of Phoenix teaches clients how to eat right and lose weight. But despite her expertise, Salomon says there's just one word to describe her own physique: "fat." To some, Salomon's 5-foot-2, 170-pound body would be a professional deal-breaker. After all, are chubby dietitians or portly physicians in any position to advise others how to get healthy?

That question is at the heart of a debate set off when Dr. Regina Benjamin was nominated for surgeon general. A MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant recipient who set up a medical clinic in hurricane-ravaged Alabama, Benjamin hasn't responded publicly to criticism that her extra pounds may set a poor example.

Her supporters say she is being treated unfairly; after all, many previous surgeon generals -- most of them men -- weren't so skinny themselves.

But with the nation's obesity problem worsening, some advocates say it's increasingly critical for healthcare workers and those with visible, influential roles to "walk the walk" and serve as role models.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-surgeon-general10-2009aug10,0,5052150.story

"A doctor doesn't need to be perfect, but it'd be hard for me to take financial advice from a CPA who had just filed for bankruptcy," said Dr. Timothy Harlan, medical director of the Tulane University School of Medicine, who says he believes physicians should make a genuine effort to be healthy.

[krispos42]

1. I said this before and I'll say it again...

...I LIKE her curves!

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. No curves allowed on women these days.

[krispos42]

3. If I want to see ribs....

...I'll go to Famous Dave's.

[Hissyspit]

4. She sure as hell is much thinner than Rush Limbaugh. nt

[Number23]

5. America: Grow the **** up

Not every thin woman is healthy. Not every thin woman is beautiful. Many people/cultures place great value on a woman who actually has breasts and hips. Many women boast about NOT being a size 2.

You don't have to be able to count the bones of every famous American woman's rib cage through her clothing.

Not every woman in public office has to look like Naomi Campbell. This is the STUPIDEST isht I've ever seen and every time I see people bitching about this woman's weight I want to scream.

[Skittles]

6. I think she is lovely

[Dulcinea]

7. WTF?

She's nowhere near obese! Why does she have to look like a Barbie doll? Ugh.

[kimmylavin]

8. Come on!

"who says he believes physicians should make a genuine effort to be healthy."

Who says she isn't healthy?
Curvy automatically means unhealthy now?

I say she's lovely.
And beyond that, setting up a clinic in Alabama - that's the kind of thinking I like in a doctor!

[saltpoint]

9. Dr. Benjamin is an entirely qualified soul for the position to which the

president appointed her and in the opinion of this observer her critics should all go jump in the frostiest lake around.

You go, Dr. Benjamin.

[glowing]

10. They are going after her because: #1. She's an Obama pick and Obama is evil

#2. She's black #3. She's a woman. These assholes wouldn't dare go after a white Doc who was 3 times bigger than this lady.

this critique moves past her qualifications, and subjects her to the typical crap.. judging based on looks. Judging based on Cosmo magazine. I've never looked at this woman's health chart. She could be perfectly healthy. Skinny does not equal healthy.. Lest we look to the Super Model section of the population and check out the anorexic, drug induced states it takes a woman to be that thin.

[pipoman]

11. I know

many women with her body type who are very athletic.






Anna Lebo