Comments on: Fat People Aren’t Lazy Gluttons, They’re Just Nuts

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:21:43 +0000

There is too much money to be made with the obesity problem. It is obvious as day that nagging everyone into voluntary starvation calling it a “lifestyle change” is not working. Call it what you want but a diet is a diet is a diet. And the diet must be done for life. Nor will nagging everyone into training for marathons will ever work. Isn’t compulsive dieting/exercising called something like Anorexia Nervosa??? So the health nags are ENCOURAGING mental illness! Are psychiatrists (and orthopedic surgeons) paying them off? Along with Jenny Craig, Bally Health Clubs, etc.?

Don’t forget that if you ride a bicycle in the street, you reduce risk of heart attack – by increasing risk of death by car wreck!

By: Something to “Bitch” About « fat fu

Something to “Bitch” About « fat fu — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:28:59 +0000

[...] Harding piece mentioned earlier, the subject of BED was tackled in detail (just for starters) here, here, and here, well in advance of when this story came out, and nobody — either in the posts [...]

By: So Close, And Yet So Far at Shakesville

So Close, And Yet So Far at Shakesville — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:41:43 +0000

[...] written about this before, but it seems to be coming up a lot lately, so let me recap my stance on this issue. Binge eating [...]

By: Despite Being Obese, My "Chances of Suffering from Obesity are Very Slim" at Shakesville

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 16:13:34 +0000

[...] My results make it abundantly clear that this survey equates “being likely to suffer from obesity” with “eating junk food and living a sedentary lifestyle.” And, you know, backhanded kudos to them for that, even, because to an extent, that’s the goddamned truth: “obesity-related” illnesses usually are related to those things, not to the fat itself. But, since not having those risk factors makes me unlikely to “suffer from” obesity (literally speaking, that’s true), and there are plenty of thin people who do have those risk factors, why the fuck must we keep conflating “obesity” with “treating your body poorly”? If we’re defining “obesity” strictly as a medical condition caused by poor nutrition and lack of exercise — and affecting people of every weight — swell. But that’s not how laypeople define it; it’s not how the media defines it; and most disturbingly, it’s not how doctors define it. When we say “obesity,” we mean “fat.” Period. We confuse one possible symptom of a problematic condition with the condition itself. (You might remember this particular rant from such blog posts as “Fat People Aren’t Lazy Gluttons, They’re Just Nuts.“) [...]

By: Harriet

Harriet — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:38:11 +0000

Great post. Just FYI, being listed in DSM does not automatically translate into insurance coverage. Most treatment for anorexia and bulimia, for instance, is not covered, unless you live in a state with mental health parity laws in place. And even then they’re not covered sometimes because some states make a distinction between “biologically based” and “non biologically based” mental health issues. WTF? Last time I checked, our brains were in our bodies and ergo mental health issues are biologically based.

I think this is about insurance coverage for one specific kind of obesity treatment: gastric bypass. There are big bucks to be made there and lots of docs who want to climb on the gravy train, so to speak.

By: myssk

myssk — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 16:38:56 +0000

Well done, well done. I agree that compulsive overeating – which *is* my problem – should be listed in the DSMV along with other eating disorders, but obesity itself is just being fat, and that has too many reasons to list. I agree with the assessment that it’s probably at its root about insurance money/grant money.

By: Never teh Bride

Never teh Bride — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 23:07:23 +0000

I wouldn’t call you “obese.” I would call you “smokin’.”

By: fat fu Off-topic? «

fat fu Off-topic? « — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:38:30 +0000

[...] apropos since psychiatrists are now talking about adding “obesity” to the DSM as a “brain disorder.” (That’s right, classifying fat as a mental illness. No, not binge eating disorder, [...]

By: littlem

littlem — Tue, 15 May 2007 08:18:58 +0000

“…because I’m gonna die 20 years early and cost society all sorts of money.”

Ha!

But, but … if you died earlier, wouldn’t you cost society less money?

As Corky St. Clair would say, “I was just jokin’ …”

By: littlem

littlem — Tue, 15 May 2007 08:15:01 +0000

“But it won’t if the researchers–and those who fund them–can’t get their big, fat heads around the fact that obesity is sometimes a symptom of a brain disorder, not the damned disorder itself.”

It will take them time. They are, after all, psychiatrists. We must be patient.

FWIW, I have heard that they are looking into designating binge-eating disorder as part of the DSM-IV (or whatever it’s called). What with the link between serotonin, and carbohydrates, and the hippocampus, and addictive behaviors, and all.

But then the Calvinists can’t talk as much about sloth and gluttony, so I don’t know.