Fat-shaming may curb obesity, bioethicist says

[nobodyspecial]

84. And you didn't address anything I said.

My post was far more than "I did it so everyone else can." But I guess my points are easier to dismiss if we boil it down to such arrogance. And it is a far reach to say that I believe in shaming. I certainly don't advocate this as a successful strategy. Far from it. I was a fat kid and was bullied relentlessly. I know how much this hurts and how it feeds destructive emotional eating. You know nothing about me to make such accusations or generalizations about my thinking.

Yes, there are many systemic changes that need to be made to get to the heart of the problem. I definitely am on board with that. Never said I wasn't. But, guess what? Those take years if not decades to implement. What are we to do in the meantime while we push for those changes. Get fatter? Get more unhealthy? Continue raising kids who develop adult issues like diabetes and high blood pressure?

There are many ways to make it easier. My position is that it is not impossible now for many, many people. The claim I was addressing was that you have to eat expensive, organic foods or have a gym membership to lose weight. I was simply stating that although it can be challenging, it can be done. Not every overweight person is hobbled by some insurmountable challenge. I know plenty of people who have decent jobs, a kitchen, access to fresh foods and no major health issues that are still 20 or 30 pounds overweight. At what point is this an issue that they personally need to confront?

But, feel free to dismiss my notion that in many cases a certain degree of personal responsibility for one's own choices and health comes into play here. I am not claiming this is true in all cases, but health issues like hypothyroidism is the exception, not the rule. I'm tired of this attitude that it is too hard to do, so we just shrug our shoulders and continue to get fatter.