i agree with spicypumpkin, there is a constant barrage of pro-obesity rhetoric in today's society. and yes, it's disguised as pro-self esteem, but really it's about obesity bc that's where society is generally headed.
where are these messages? Dove's "real beauty" campaign for example. i'm not saying it's ALL bad...they have some very positive messages in there (i.e. don't kill yourself if you don't look like an airbrushed model in a magazine) but they promote self-acceptance and loving yourself the way you are. which is fine in theory, but when one is overweight or obese, why accept that?
someone in the thread said that we live in a blameless society...which is exactly true. no one wants to take responsibility for being fat, it's always because work is stressful, partners eat badly and there's no time for exercise. (this is NOT directed at people who have physical disorders/medication that cause them to gain weight) it's so easy to blame society, lifestyle and others that no one wants to accept that with a little sacrifice, a healthy lifestyle IS possible.
for example, i am a full time student who works part time. i live a 2hr commute from my school (or 1 hr drive each way, if i choose to drive). as you can imagine, my time is limited. despite this, during my first year of my program (last year) i managed to drop 20 lbs over a 6 or 8 month period by MAKING time to work out and eating healthy food. when in class/between classes, i sit with friends who eat pizza/fries/wings and drink cokes and redbull. and yes, i pull out my wholewheat bread veggie sandwich or pasta or brown rice and beans/salad that i made last night or on the weekend. it's tough but it's do-able.
people eat fast food and even pre-packaged grocery store items without reading or understanding what the label says. and when they gain weight, tend to say "i didn't know that was so bad for me!" well, if you bothered educating yourself in the first place, you wouldn't have gained the weight. this IS 2008, and we have Google.
other ways pro-obesity is encouraged? many...it's just covert. for example, car seats are bigger here than they are in Asia. why? because North americans are fatter. i saw a piece on the news that talked about car manufacturers coming up with "seatbelt extensions": because a significant enough percentage of Americans are having trouble fitting into seatbelts as they are.
supersize options at fastfood restaurants: yes, they are trying to make money...but they are doing so by feeding the demand of the population. same deal with fat/sugar-packed grocery store foods, especially kid foods like drink boxes and cereals. we're digging our own graves here.
the amount of fast food options versus health food options in the first place.
i used to work with troubled kids and was told to NEVER speak of calories, diets or workouts to them. if they mentioned these things, they were to be discouraged, and quietly encouraged to "just eat healthy". at 14, not a lot of kids know what healthy IS...and if adults dont guide them properly, this will just spiral into obesity or conversely, eating disorders.
political correctness in general about labeling fat, even through television and media. unless someone is making fun of someone else, a fat person is simply "large" or "big-boned".
society today seems to be teaching people to accept mediocrity. if you're not your best, who cares? just accept it. you don't have to change a thing. if YOU accept you, that's all that matters.
my POV? if YOU are lazy, uneducated and unmotivated in the first place...why should anyone else in society accept you? i don't want to. and i don't want to have kids in the kind of society that accepts you either. giving anything less than 100% in any part of life is selling yourself short.
