Chat about weight management

[costello22]

My local newspaper has a regular "chat with the expert" thing it does on its website. Today's was on weight loss. Pretty standard stuff, but there was the following question, implying that ridicule might give the obese incentive to lose weight. Do Europeans really ridicule obese public in public? And is it really extremely rude to ridicule obese people here? And if it is extremely rude, does that mean that no one does it?

"LogicMan: In Europe it is common to ridicule someone in public for being obese. Here it is extremely rude. Have there been any studies on the effectiveness of being unpleasantly honest to obese people? Europeans do seem to be thinner, on average.

"Brianne Guilford: In my opinion, based on my personal experiences travelling and living in Europe, I do not feel it is more common for an obese person to be ridiculed in public as compared with the U.S. I am not aware of any published studies on the effectiveness of being unpleasantly honest to obese people. However, it doesn't mean there isn't a study out there or that one isn't currently being done. Pub Med is a great place to search for weight management, physical activity, and nutrition research. Yes, I agree, Europeans do seem to be thinner on average and past studies have documented that prevalence of overweight and obesity is less in European countries. In addition, there has been research suggesting that it is lifestyle physical activity (i.e. walking or riding a bike instead of driving), specifically for transportation is a primary factor influencing body weight in Europeans. If you think about this issue in terms of urban sprawl, Europeans often have more opportunities to avoid commuting by car due to the simple central location of the city centre and place of business."

http://www2.ljworld.com/chats/2008/feb/12/brianne_guilford/

[moggsy]

Logicman is talking b.s. I'm guessing he just want sa reason to be judgemental and have "justified" prejudice. They probably assume that their audience will take their assertions at face value.

I have experienced more tolerance in Europe, at least in the parts I've been to and lived in. It might be true in Southern Europe, but I doubt it.

[Zei]

Ridiculing people for what type of body they have is extremely rude and psychologically harmful. It should never be tolerated in the assumption it will "help" the person.

[costello22]

Ridiculing people for what type of body they have is extremely rude and psychologically harmful. It should never be tolerated in the assumption it will "help" the person.

What irritates me is that the "expert" here didn't come right out and say that.

I know I'm fat. I don't need strangers pointing it out. And ridiculing people would only lower their self-image, making them less likely to want to take care of themselves.

Some people are just mean.

[Angeline]

It's stupid to believe that everyone responds to humiliation the same way. Sure, some people will let that motivate them into changing, with a sort of "I'll show them!" attitude, but a lot of other people will react with depression and/or withdrawal. And there is always a small percentage of people who can react with extreme anger, either towards themselves or towards other people. The last thing we need are more suicides or more school shootings.

So the guy is a total ass.

[kyrasdad]

Ridiculing people for what type of body they have is extremely rude and psychologically harmful. It should never be tolerated in the assumption it will "help" the person.

The entire thought process is asinine. They act as if thin-ness is some moral virtue they have earned, instead of a genetic lottery they have won. Besides that, they cannot identify drug addicts, alchoholics, or other supposed self-abusers as easily as fat people, so it's a pretty damn selective "encouragement" technique.

This proves that yea, there is sometimes such a thing as a stupid question.