Obesity in the news

[liveonearth]

Last week I read that a man (LaPointe, 430 lbs), was released from jail because they did not have facilities large enough for him to sleep in, or sit at a table. This week I hear that the Canadian supreme court has ruled that obese people are disabled, and airlines have to provide them with two seats for the price of one.... How about, now let's call cigarette addiction a disability and provide the smokers with their own airplane? And incontinence must surely be a disability, so let's set them up with toilets on every aisle? You see how slippery the slope can be.


At what point, I ask, are people responsible for their own decisions and actions? Can people not be held responsible for their own obesity? I hold myself responsible for the state and condition of MY body. I hold myself responsible for the damages that I do using my body. While I do have compassion for people who have limitations, everyone is responsible for their choices, and the law exists to hold people responsible when they do not take responsibility on their own. The choices that add up to morbid obesity are just that, choices. If a person has a hormonal issue that causes them to gain weight, they need treatment for it. Not a free pass to be dangerous and obnoxious with the claim that they are too fat to help it. If they can't afford treatment, maybe they should save up some of the dough they spend on caloric intake and put it to another use.

In this article they open with a discussion of an obese man (Mathisen, 380 lbs) who killed his wife (165 lbs) by kneeling on her during an argument. She had recently confessed cheating, and asked for a divorce. He is appealing a murder finding based on his obesity. The article also mentions an obese woman (800-1,000 lbs) who is charged with beating her son to death. The defense is that she is too fat to move her arms.

"The number of severely obese - people whose body mass index is greater than 40 - make up the fastest growing population of obesity... there are now 1.5 million severely obese people in Canada." ...

The fat people complain that they get poor treatment from healthcare professionals, and that wages are lower and jobs are harder go get... I'm sure it's true, in some cases.

It appears to me that employment discrimination against obese people is reasonable and justified. If a person had puncture wounds up and down their veins, an employer would be wise to guess that there might be a drug addiction at play that could affect job performance. If a person is morbidly obese, it is the same sort of sign that a person may well have a food addiction, an endocrine disorder, or an emotional issue that could impact job performance. Better to choose an employee whose physical plant is in good working order.

Comments

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you get it. I find it amusing that so many people assume that I've never been fat, or am not at risk of obesity somehow, just because I think that people are responsible for what they do to their bodies..... Anyone can end up fat, through inattention or misinformation or accident...or lots of other reasons...and we are all responsible for our adult choices regardless of what sort of messy guidance we get at the outset. I didn't know that you're fat, but I don't care! You do take responsibility, and kudos to you. I have been a helluva lot fatter than I am now, and it has been a 20 year project learning to manage my own weight. By golly, I am finally learning how to do it. I am seriously grateful that I can still walk. Without the ability to exercise, it's a LOT harder to keep the balance of calories in *equal to or less than* calories out. So, you do what you can and accept the result. So be it.

[ngakmafaery.livejournal.com]

...yeah, same with smoking and eating badly and all of thee other things that make and break health and mental health, I think...if I wreck my body because I "can't resist" this or that, then buddhism, and common sense, says "I made actions, and they have consequences, period"...not blame, but obvious cause and result...which is GREAT, because then you have at least some small measure of control for your own life...