I don't understand, I thought that they were born fat.

2) Many people in developed nations are eating more calories and moving around less, and this is contributing to rising obesity rates.

I don't understand why we need to have so many people ignoring (1) and overstating (2), and why a bunch of fat activists have to then respond by declaring (2) heretical and overemphasizing the case for (1).

1) Given a healthy diet and level of physical activity, some people will be thin by average human standards, while others will be fat.

2) Many people in developed nations are eating more calories and moving around less, and this is contributing to rising obesity rates.

I don't understand why we need to have so many people ignoring (1) and overstating (2), and why a bunch of fat activists have to respond by regarding (2) as heretical and overemphasizing the case for (1).

What I don't understand is why there aren't a ton of people with smoking blogs. Telling everybody they are insensitive for pointing out all of the health risks associated with smoking, and vociferously refuting ex-smokers who will of course just be smoking again in 2 to 5 years.

I'm not saying that I'm anywhere close to in shape, but I also own up to the fact that I like to eat shitty food and not move around much. Some people do have a harder time losing weight than others, but some people have a harder time with addictions than others. Doesn't mean they still shouldn't stop.

Aren't we ALL "likely to die"?

What was considered heavy thirty years ago is the new normal.

"The just exercise and eat less" crowd is wrong. The "there's nothing I can do about it" crowd is wrong.

The diet industry is telling you the wrong information on how to lose weight. The government is telling you the wrong information on how to lose weight. Eat what your grandparents ate before the "health craze" of the 70s and 80s, avoid starches and sugars, and you will lose weight.

I'm not disagreeing with the idea that everyone's got a different natural body shape, but morbid obesity is not natural.

Yup. Because 30 years ago the government adopted the "food pyramid". Everyone started focusing on rice, bread, potatoes, and pasta. When they got fat, they bought "diet" and "low-fat" foods with even more starches and sugars. "Fat-free" cookies where sugar is the #2 ingredient.

Does anyone actually think humanity has gotten significantly more slothful in the last 30 years? And I say humanity, not America, because everywhere that is not chronically malnourished that has adopted the high starch "healthy" diet has seen increases in obesity.

There's a difference between being big because you're shoving cheesecake down your gullet and being big because of genetics. One doesn't naturally lead to type II diabetes, for example, nor does it lead to cardiovascular or musculoskeletal problems associated with carrying around a hundred more pounds than you need to.

And no, I'm not going to accept it, because I'm not going to accept relatives of mine that are eating their way to an early grave. Satisfied?

I have no illusions of ever being thin by anyone's standards, but I do try to keep my weight to the lowest level I can manage without extreme measures. And I manage to have a lovely life...

And people prior to the 60's weren't magically fit due to better, healthier diets...americans have been chowing down on meat, 'taters, and desserts for a very long time.

we're a fat country due to the combination of less physical activity, poor eating habits, processed foods laden with fats and corn syrup and acute laziness.

or in a nutshell, you can blame Coke, McDonalds, television, the Internet, the automobile, the suburbanization of America, the corn syrup lobby, poor parenting and mean gym teachers who make kids hate physical activity...

i'm also sure that the homosexuals probably had something to do with it, too. We have such hot bodies, that everyone else just gave up in frustration. That, and our constant and persistent cruising in locker rooms has scared off most heterosexuals.

Ya'll can argue all you want, fat people are still going to be fat and skinny people are still going have their opinions of them. It doesn't really matter who's right or wrong here. Fat people know what they need to do and whether or not it will work for them. This argument is old and pointless and Dan needs to let go of it already.

Fuck the "fat activists", and fuck the skinny assholes trying to tell people what to do. Your both full of shit.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-fitness-death-risk,0,2718524.story

Um, gee, ya think? If you stop the part of the diet where you eat healthier foods in smaller portions, the diet might not work anymore.

And don't even get me started on what some people consider exercise. There was a post earlier on Slog where a commenter said her exercise was "washing dishes and doing laundry." Wow.

I know, I know, this doesn't apply to every overweight person, but it does apply to some of them.

Pointing out the very real health risks associated with morbid obesity isn't dehumanizing. The fact you take it as such illustrates just how impossible rational discourse becomes when people start playing the victim card.

You control how many calories you consume, and you control how much you exercise. When fat-acceptance blog authors encourage readers to go ahead and eat cheesecake, they've clearly abandoned any pretense at advocating healthy living.

Ever notice you don't see blogs promoting alcoholism acceptance? And how you don't see bloggers saying to go ahead and drink more vodka because it doesn't matter anyway?

And I don't even like cheesecake.