[furquhart]

Well, I'll agree that 300 pounds is excessive, I'd say that some people are overly hysterical and judgemental about the issue.

I'm five foot nine and two hundred and twenty pounds - and I work out pretty much every day and have for a while. Admittedly, I don't eat as well as I ought to, but still - people have radically different body types.

Indeed, when it comes to clothes, I have a huge problem with shirts in that I have extremely broad shoulders and a thick neck, which means that I end up with shirts which either barely fit around the neck, or hang off my sides like a dress. It's a huge pain in the ass sometimes.

The one interesting thing is that I'm Canadian and, in Canada, I tend to be heavier than the average. When I cross the border into the United States, I tend to find that I'm far closer to average.

Not that I care (some Canadians wear it as a mark of superiority). After all, American weight is a mark of prosperity and, in general, fat people - like smokers - are probably saving the public health system money over the long run, if we account fairly.

[okkev68]

I think it is pretty easy to tell the difference between someone who is "stocky" and someone who is just plain fat. Although, I am considered obese by the BMI chart at 6'2" and 220lbs. On Sunday, I will be running my 5th half marathon and second in 2 weeks, so, obviously, charts and standards are not a consistent way to measure people.

But, I am constantly amazed when I walk into Wal-Mart at the every increasing number of really large women. There was an article posted on FR last night about the fourfold increase in obese children (6-11) over the last 25 years.
Americans are getting fatter and fatter, which is why Type II diabetes has skyrocketed to the top of the disease charts.