Obesity and Ill Health (From The Argus)

Hazel, I think your argument here is quite asinine and stupid - I doubt whether you seriously believe it yourself, I suspect you are just trying to write something "controversial" to salivate your audience. Are you seriously suggesting that any obese people were "encouraged" to become obese because they say that they would still be able to order catalogue clothes in their size?!? What evidence have you for this? Are you aware of a single obese person who cited this as a motivation for their weight? Moreover, what are you suggesting - that once people become too fat, they should be made to go about naked until they slim down?

I recently noticed that larger sizes are being offered and I say Bravo! I have spent years feeling miserable because at a size 20 I could not but nice clothes and had to resort to specialist and usually overpriced shops. I am overweight but do not consider myself to be huge or particularly unhealthy but it seems that in todays weight obsessed culture that I am to be written off as disgusting and lazy. I walk everywhere (I have never driven a car) and will be joining race for life for the second time this year. Not everyone over a size 10 is unfit or sick and its about time we had some choice in clothing other than unflattering tents. You may feel that controlling your weight through calorie counting is the best way but not everyone functions this way. I do not count calories but choose to eat everything in moderation by keeping a check on my portion sizes. I lost 3 stone this way and have settled at a size 20 which feels fine and looks feminine on someone who is fairly tall. To deny someone the same goods and services as others simply becasue society has decided that anorexia is attractive is disgusting and utterly immoral. People will not just give up on being healthy just because larger sizes are available and to assume they would is to do people a disservice. The sizes change to reflect people not the other way around. I know that there are 7 foot tall people in the world but dont assume I need to be 7 feet tall as well!

It sounds so simple - eat less and you'll get thinner. But it doesn't always work out like that. I've been trying to lose a lot weight - that I put on in bursts over the past 20 years or so. Some of it came with each of my 3 children and some from my very stressful job. I exercise a lot and am careful what I eat, but I have had limited success. I seem to go through phases when weight goes on, and others where it comes off and I have to say it seems to have little to do with what I eat and more to do with my health and the weather! Don't dismiss my views as daft - apparently there's evidence that identical twins, separated at birth generally remain at around the same weight even if they are brought up in very different environments.
Oh, and I don't get any benefits. I feed my family and myself on proper food, normally cooked from scratch.

Years ago, when standard dress sizes stopped at 16-18, women seemed to be more aware of how much they weighed. There were women who were slim and women who were cuddly, but not the number of morbidly obese people (men and women) that there are today. And this is an international health problem.

People in the fashion industry became aware of people’s frustration when they couldn't buy clothes in a larger size.

They brought in elasticated waistbands and you can now buy most styles of clothing to fit the much larger person.

For people who like being cuddly that's great. My mother always complained about how few fashionable dresses there were in her size. She would have loved today’s market, but I don't.

For me I wish they would make the cut off point around the 22-24 so that you can still find well made clothing that hangs nicely on the body, but medically none of us should wish to remain at dress size 26 or over on a permanent basis.

It could endanger our lives. If you need an operation and you are overweight, they tell you to go home and diet first. If you smoke heavily they tell you to pack up smoking. If you drink too much they tell you to stop. Why? Because they know there is a better chance of you surviving the operation if you do.

Some obese people opt for surgery to help them lose weight, but clinically it’s very dangerous. If clothing manufacturers were to bring down their dress sizes it might help reduce the numbers of people who suffer from heart attacks that have been linked with obesity.

There would be fewer people suffering from weight related back ache, fewer people suffering from type two diabetes and fewer children suffering as a result of teasing at school, because one or both of their parents were morbidly obese.

I have heard many stories of children begging their parents to diet because they are afraid their parents will die and they will be left alone in the world.

"Years ago, when standard dress sizes stopped at 16-18, women seemed to be more aware of how much they weighed."

That's the extent of your rigorous research, is it, Hazel? Have you considered a career in comedy?

I understand what Hazel is saying, and it is a shame that some people are so big they need larger clothes. I don’t think her argument is stupid just maybe not as complete as it should be.

Part of the problem is education and peoples understanding of food and portion sizes. You can eat health food but if you eat too much to will still put on weight.

Part of the problem is cost of food. Healthy food can often cost more and so many people will buy cheaper unhealthy junk food.

Food manufacturers are also to blame for making junk food with added fat, salt and all sorts of rubbish in it.

There is also the issue of time, junk food in the oven for twenty minutes or take the time to make a health meal from scratch.

Things have changed a lot in the last hundred years. It used to be that the rich ate too much and were overweight because they could afford it, and the poor ate whatever they could. Now the rich and famous are thin, having surgery and can eat healthily because they can afford it, and the poor eat cheap junk food and are overweight.

It is not a bad thing that clothes manufacturers are making clothes for bigger people, just that they need too.

In an ideal world, we would all know what food to eat, how much to eat, how to cook it and the right amount off exercise to take. But it’s not an ideal world, so we all just need to try and be happy with who we are. The size we are and make the most of live. After all we are only here once.