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Help the obese: snigger
The Sunday Times (London) ^ | 11/27/2005 | Christopher Hart

Posted on 11/27/2005 6:51:42 AM PST by FerdieMurphy

The NHS in east Suffolk has announced that it will no longer perform hip or knee replacements on people classed as “obese”. Never mind that the definition it uses for obesity — a body mass index of 30 or higher — is increasingly discredited, and that a much more reliable way of measuring healthy weight is waist-to-hip ratio. (It should be 0.9 or less in men, and 0.85 or less in women; you can check it on www.healthstatus.com/calculate/whr ).

A greater objection to this denial of treatment to fatties on account of their self-inflicted fatness is: where on earth do you stop?

Should NHS dental treatment be denied to women who eat too much chocolate? Should the hugely expensive course of anti-retroviral drugs for HIV be denied to promiscuous homosexuals, or sex tourists recently returned from Pattaya Beach? For that matter, what about women who have dieted rather than gluttonised all their lives, neglecting their calcium intake and so risking osteoporosis in later life?

Fatties surely have just as much right to be treated on the NHS as smokers, binge drinkers, or any other taxpayers. Instead of threatening plump people’s already threatened health by denying them treatment, how about giving them the new bits they need, while encouraging them to lose weight with a little gentle, old-fashioned mockery?

Fatties should of course be free to squeeze out of the closet, their XXXL T-shirts emblazoned with such legends as “Fat and Happy!” “Out, Stout and Proud!” and so forth. What they cannot demand, I think, is the right to be free from teasing, either in the playground or in later life. There is and always will be something innately funny about fat people. They wobble so much, for one thing.

I was once stranded for 24 hours in Houston, self- proclaimed Fat Capital of the World, and I have never seen so many enormously fat people in my life, nor felt such a juvenile but well-nigh irrepressible urge to laugh out loud. The reason they are all so fat is that they drive everywhere, and stuff themselves from dawn till long after dusk with double choc-chip deep fried spicy pepperoni monster pizzas topped with extra cheddar-style cheese, and gallon bargain-buckets of buffalo wings on the side. This is not a dignified way to behave.

But laughing at fatties is no longer encouraged in the Land of the Fat and Home of the Brave. Take their National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Members recently staged a demonstration in New York, dressed in grass hula skirts, tiaras and flamingo headbands, throwing beach balls around and dancing the “hokey-pokey fat liberation” song. They then solemnly stepped onto scales modified with supportive words like “stunning”, “pretty” and “beautiful” instead of numbers. This is not going to help their condition any more than the mean-spirited health services in east Suffolk.

Obesity is well on the way to becoming the No 1 cause of death in the developed world, which in itself is no joke. In a few decades’ time everywhere will look like Houston, or worse still, the Freedom Paradise resort in Mexico, which boasts reinforced beds, double-width doors, and dining chairs 26in wide but without arms in case they get stuck to diners’ wider-than-26in bottoms when they stand up.

Cindy Sabo, spokeswoman for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, has given Freedom Paradise her seal of approval. Placing herself in the “oversize” category at around 400lb, Sabo recalls “some terrible experiences with some other tourists” on a recent holiday in Hawaii. “Especially some people from Asian countries would walk right up to you on the beach, poke you in the belly and make some rude joke.” What a marvellous image: a crowd of lean little Chinese people gathered around an enormous American woman, poking and prodding her delightedly while she lies there in the Hawaiian sand, huffing and puffing with a self-righteous indignation quite lost on them.

Being overweight is hardly the greatest sin one can commit, pace the doctors and consultants of east Suffolk. But that doesn’t mean obesity is an entirely neutral “lifestyle option” either. It isn’t a cardinal or mortal sin, but a venal one. But obesity does betray self-indulgence, a lack of self-control and a habit of mostly solitary greed.

Despite the protests of fatties that it’s their metabolism that is responsible, or their genes, we all know that those among our friends who incline to porkiness are almost always the ones who chomp their way through an entire packet of Chocolate HobNobs when the rest of us make do with one or two.

A certain mockery, a certain hearty Chaucerian laughter at human weakness and venality, can have a beneficial purpose; although, like shame, it is a social mechanism rather out of fashion. It might not only provoke merriment, but also suggest to its “victims” that perhaps they ought to consider their ways and be wise; or in modern parlance, review their lifestyle choices.

Laughing at fat people might be the first step on the road to them losing weight. And then those sternly Calvinistic medical men of east Suffolk might not have to bother about fitting them with new knees anyway.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: effetecruelty; fatso; hillarycare; notmyproblemsohaha; obese; obesity; socializedmedicine
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To: SIDENET

....YUM! Where can I get one?.....


This is from the UK. Apparently the Brits are one up on us. I had assumed that Brit pizzas has kidneys and kippers for toppings


21 posted on 11/27/2005 7:40:31 AM PST by bert (K.E. ; N.P . Peta girls end up as spinsters)
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To: Gaffer

Your comments are exactly on. Once anything is in government control the social engineering aspect comes into play. In the local arena as well as the feds it plays out. Like HOV traffic lanes. We all paid for them but only those performing in an acceptable manner get to use them. It would be especially insidious in the health care arena. "If you want care, you will toe the line." Exceptions to this will be, of course, if you contract HIV for which you will be pampered and apologized to.


22 posted on 11/27/2005 7:42:27 AM PST by n230099
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To: SamAdams76

Sam I resent your linebacker ploy. I played linebacker at 210 lbs. and 6'2". I weigh 208 now at the age of 75. Not to say tho that at one time I did balloon up to 260 lbs. but preferred good health over obesity.


23 posted on 11/27/2005 7:43:23 AM PST by drdemars (Change your thinking - Change your life.)
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To: mollynme

I don't know the answer, but I wonder if it's just an exercise in futility. Since as far as I know, artificial joints aren't in limited supply (like donated organs), I would see no reason to refuse, unless there is some other limit, such as doctor shortage, hospital bed shortage, etc.

If there is a limiting factor, then I would make a value judgement and deny those with self-inflicted problems.


24 posted on 11/27/2005 7:49:23 AM PST by IndyInVa
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To: SamAdams76
I am now resigned to the fact that I will need to watch what I eat for the rest of my life, regardless of how much exercise I get (and fortunately, I love to hike and still walk at least 5-7 miles a day).

Per order of my Cardiologist a few years ago,I lost about 35 pounds over about 5 months,thanks to Atkins and lots of "power walking".

But then one of my hips went bad...I got discouraged... couldn't walk...regained about 40 pounds.I just had hip surgery a few weeks ago and am expected to recover to my previous status.

Once I start my walking again,I hope to repeat the process.

25 posted on 11/27/2005 7:55:17 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: SamAdams76

"From April 2003 to January 2004, I went from 304 pounds with a size 48 waist to 197 pounds with a size 34 waist."

Well done, indeed.

"It has been far more difficult keeping the weight off than I ever imagined...even as I walked 7-10 miles a day, I found that I could still easily gain the weight back if I didn't stick to a strict diet."

Okay, right there the "all obesity is due solely to overeating" theory falls flat on its face.

A person who exercises should be able to maintain his weight without sticking to "a strict diet." Some people can; some people can even overeat without getting fat. For others, a strict diet *and* exercise are both necessary.

Clearly, there is another factor at work. The sooner medical science stops patting itself on the back and gets to work finding that other factor, the sooner the "epidemic" of obesity will be brought under control.


26 posted on 11/27/2005 7:56:35 AM PST by dsc
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To: IndyInVa
Since as far as I know, artificial joints aren't in limited supply (like donated organs),I would see no reason to refuse....

Being overweight not only increases one's chances of needing a hip/knee replacement,it also lessens the chances of such procedures being successful.

27 posted on 11/27/2005 7:58:13 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: FerdieMurphy
In my last reply, I never did get around to discussing the premise of the article.

I didn't grow up fat. In fact, I was rail-thin to the point that when I went to Marine boot camp, they put me on double-rations because I was considered to be underweight.

During my school years, I remember how the fat kids were made fun of. There wasn't that many of them in those days so the teasing was especially cruel. I would never advocate the teasing of fat kids. It didn't seem to shame them into getting thin. In fact, it socially isolated them, probably causing them to get even fatter. After all, depression and overeating appear to be linked.

My weight gain happened after I left the Marines. It was slow and gradual so that I personally didn't notice how fat I was getting until co-workers and friends started teasing me about it - in a good-natured way, of course. But I started getting the message.

Trust me, it was no fun being fat. I found myself huffing and puffing just climbing a set of stairs. When my kids were young, I was too tired to play ball or go bike riding with them. I'd rather just sit on a lawn chair and watch or sit at the computer. I was one of those who didn't believe in leftovers. At family meals, I'd eat everything. If I opened a bag of chips or a box of cookies, I'd finish it.

So overeating and lack of exercise definitely was the root cause of my obesity. And teasing and ridicule wasn't going to dissuade me from my lifestyle.

I finally got fed up with my weight in March of 2003, when I went on a business convention and found that my suit didn't fit me anymore. During a banquet, the seams of my pants split and still, I sat at the table eating not only my dessert but the desserts of others at my table that didn't want theirs. It was at that point in time that I realized I had a real problem.

Once I took the weight off, I noticed an immediate difference with the way strangers treated me. They were much more friendlier and respectful. There seems to be an inbred disrespect of obese people in our culture. All I know is that I am treated much differently now then I was then.

28 posted on 11/27/2005 7:58:33 AM PST by SamAdams76 (What Would Howard Roarke Do?)
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To: drdemars

Did you play linebacker in the NFL?


29 posted on 11/27/2005 7:59:10 AM PST by SamAdams76 (What Would Howard Roarke Do?)
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To: drdemars
Agreed! My only argument against the British decision to limit hip replacement surgery to healthy non-obese clients, is that the British government doesn't limit tax collection for national health coverage to healthy non-obese clients. I am sure that there are many disease processes that are caused by self abuse. Hell if you live long enough, death eventually comes.

How about denying nursing home care to nonsmoking, non-obese patients. Their healthy life style leads to a longer life and as one gets older the risk for developing old age senile neuropathy is higher, while fat smokers die saving the tax payers the cost of nursing home care. Of course most would consider that silly. When the Government takes taxes away from the people promising cradle to grave health care, it should deliver what it promises. Or get out of the health care business.
30 posted on 11/27/2005 8:00:45 AM PST by JohnD9207 (Lead...follow...or get the HELL out of the way!)
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To: FerdieMurphy
gallon bargain-buckets of buffalo wings on the side

Hey, those wings are lo-carb, that's diet food !!

31 posted on 11/27/2005 8:01:19 AM PST by Salgak (Acme Lasers presents: The Energizer Border: I dare you to try and cross it. . .)
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To: starfish923

I know quite a few well off Asians and they're all lean. Much more so than almost everyone else around them.


32 posted on 11/27/2005 8:02:19 AM PST by onja ("The government of England is a limited mockery." (France is a complete mockery.)
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To: FerdieMurphy

What is sad about this article is the denial of healthcare based on bigotry. Ultimately this is what will doom socialized healthcare in the US: The simple fact that despite all promises to the contrary, its about rationing/denial of healthcare, not what you need when you need it.


33 posted on 11/27/2005 8:03:36 AM PST by Cyclops08
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To: dsc
The sooner medical science stops patting itself on the back and gets to work finding that other factor, the sooner the "epidemic" of obesity will be brought under control.

By and large,obesity is a "disease" of affluence.I'll spare you a long-winded explanation as to why..but just think about our lifestyle today as compared to,say,30 years ago... or,better still,50 years ago.

34 posted on 11/27/2005 8:03:37 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: Gay State Conservative

"By and large,obesity is a "disease" of affluence."

Why, then, are more poor people obese?

"I'll spare you a long-winded explanation as to why..but just think about our lifestyle today as compared to,say,30 years ago... or,better still,50 years ago."

What I remember from 50 years ago is ice cream, candy bars, cokes, buttered popcorn, rich three-layer chocolate cakes, cherry cobbler, and dinner tables where you ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered cornbread, and corn on the cob until you were stuffed.


35 posted on 11/27/2005 8:09:31 AM PST by dsc
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To: onja

"I know quite a few well off Asians and they're all lean. Much more so than almost everyone else around them."

Obesity is increasing at a rapid clip in Japan.


36 posted on 11/27/2005 8:10:30 AM PST by dsc
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To: mollynme

If they're denying them replacement because it's self-inflicted that's stupid. If those poeple have any hope of LOSING the weight it's better diet and excercise. Denying them the ability to move would be like refusing to give people trying to quit smoking nicotine patches. This MUST be a government operation.


37 posted on 11/27/2005 8:14:02 AM PST by ark_girl
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To: Enterprise

That is DISGUSTING. Shame on you.

Heehee

38 posted on 11/27/2005 8:16:32 AM PST by starfish923 (Socrates: It's never right to do wrong.)
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To: dsc
Why, then, are more poor people obese?

Actually, when one is using the term "affluence," one has to apply it to the society as a whole, not specific individuals. In our "affluent" U.S. society, food is both plentiful and relatively cheap. Poverty in the U.S. doesn't imply the inability to get food. However, "poor" Americans are more likely to get a superabundance of cheap, carbohydrate-laden foods, and this contributes to their obesity. They are also less likely to take advantage of weight-loss measures such as daily exercise that require self-discipline and an understanding of how their bodies work.

39 posted on 11/27/2005 8:18:30 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: dsc
Why, then, are more poor people obese?

Your asking that question suggests to me that you don't know the real definition of the word "poor".There's "south side of Chicago" poor and there's "East African" poor.I've seen them both...and they don't even remotely resemble each other.

What I remember from 50 years ago is ice cream, candy bars, cokes, buttered popcorn, rich three-layer chocolate cakes...

Yes,I remember that.But I also remember....3 channels of TV (rather than 200)...no PCs....mowing your own lawn.... baseball/softball in the park....(in other words,we were far more physically active back then).

40 posted on 11/27/2005 8:22:10 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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