Overweight 'should be protected'

[caveman_nige]

Attacking someone for being fat should be a hate crime, campaigners say.

They want so-called "fat-ism" to be made illegal on the same grounds as race, age and religious discrimination.

A demonstration is being held outside the offices of the mayor of London asking him to lead the way in making sure employers are not prejudiced.

Protesters want the UK to follow San Francisco, where a law bans "fat-ism" in housing and employment and stops doctors pressing patients to slim down.

Sondra Solway, a San Francisco lawyer, said: "The San Francisco ordinance says you may want to mention weight to the patient but if the patient says they do not want to talk about that then you are asked to respect those wishes."

Size acceptance

In the UK, size is not a protected characteristic under discrimination legislation.
People who are very overweight do experience a lot of prejudice both in their social life and working life and do need some protection."
Dr Ian Campbell, Weight Concern


The campaigners, who belong to the Size Acceptance Movement, say surveys show 93% of employers would rather employ a thin person than a fat one even if they are equally qualified.

Kathryn Szrodecki, who campaigns on behalf of overweight people, said that in the UK fat people were stared at, pointed at, talked about and attacked.

She said: "I have been discriminated against - I am a YMCA qualified fitness instructor, but I have gone for jobs and been laughed off the premises."

Another campaigner, Marsha Coupe, said: "I have been punched, I have had beer thrown in my face, I have had people attack me on the train.

"They say 'Move out of the way fatty! Well person coming down the aisle!'"

Ms Szrodecki said: "This is a very common event - someone being beaten up should be a crime.

"It is not about who you are or what you have done, it is just about the way you look.

"You are allowed to shame us just because of the way we look."

Dr Ian Campbell of the charity Weight Concern said he was doubtful that legislation would have any immediate effect on the situation.

He said: "People who are very overweight do experience a lot of prejudice both in their social life and working life and do need some protection.

"We know that genetic and social reasons can lead to this very complex problem.

"For instance, people in inner cities are much more likely to be overweight because of poorer education, poorer housing and poorer job opportunities.

"Not everyone has a free choice about controlling their weight."

[opsmonkey]

Fat chunts should go on a diet and stop costing the NHS millions of pounds a year..

Ten years ago the problem was minimal.. Now its an epidemic.. Lazy people eating 'easy' food full of crap eg salt and fat..

I dont buy the excuse about education.. even the thickest of people know that chips and fatty foods arent good for you.. plus fresh food is cheaper, markets etc sell fresh fruit and veg very cheap so i dont buy the 'poverty line' excuse, the poor were VERY poor in the 40's etc and they weren't all fat gits.. Lazy people who cant be arsed to cook, happy with a microwave meal and sitting on their arse all day and not exercising..

Too many people blame their 'glands' or 'genes'.. what i want to know what are they doing about it, apart from taking 3 pies 3 times a day..?

[forntida]

O.K I admit there are some genetically fat people in the country but I also think it is a small percentage.
I was raised during the second world war when you did not see many 'overall' fat people. The occassional Elephantitis and a lot of Varicious vein leg fatness.

Why was there a lack of fat people in those days? Because there was a lack of FOOD. Compare eastern europeans with western society and you get my idea.

If you walk down the street today you won't walk far until you meet someone who is grossly obese. I did a survey in peoples houses about five years ago. The amount of women and old people who do nothing all day except sitting watching TV and eating is unbelievable. People who are working tend to be slimmer.

We have now reached the state that America was in 30 years ago, probably still the same. I haven't been there recently.

I am worried about my weight. I am six foot and just under 15 stone in weight.

[chroma]

FOOD is expensive.

LB for LB Big Mac's are cheaper than Veg for instance.

For Broccoli for instance its like ?1.50, then you need to go through the hassle of prepring it which adds to the cost.
In essence its far cheaper to pick up the kids and head to the nearest drive through after school to have them fed if your living on or below the breadline.

The human tongue only tastes a handful of categories, fats, salts and sugars for the mst part, these dont naturaly occur in high volumes in natural food, so in order to make everythig taste good just add a stack of each in. which coincedentaly is exactly what the food industry does.
They mass farm animals for slaughter like a factory assembly line the sheer quantity of bad food outweighs by several factors healthier options.
Leading to a supply and demand situation, its a sad day when i can get a supply of a ton of ground chuck for making burgers for less than i can pick up a few crates of veg.

Then theres grain, CORN is the magic grain, you can process it into almost anything and i can guarantee you that everything you eat has some kind of corn product in it.

Coke: modified corn syrup is the basis for the sugar.
Chewing gum: Modified corn into the form of xanthan gum.
Cerial: again pressed roasted corn coated with modified corn syrup.
Soups: modified corn starch.

Beef is primarily reared on corn, we feed it to the bulk of our lifestock. in the modern world corn is the essential building block for the entire setup.
This is primarily because the global governments subsidise farmers to grow the shit, and where theres an incentive to make money growing grain theres no incentive to make money growing veg or rearing your own livestock.
Meaning anything without some kind of unhealthy processed corn product becomes prohibitively expensive to a low income family.

[opsmonkey]

FOOD is expensive.
Broccoli for instance its like ?1.50, then you need to go through the hassle of prepring it which adds to the cost.

Very rarely do i accuse people of talking absolute shite but please tell me how washing, cutting with a knife then placing in a pan of boiling water:

• Is a hassle
• Adds to the cost

In essence its far cheaper to pick up the kids and head to the nearest drive through after school to have them fed if your living on or below the breadline.

I think you made a typo here, what you meant to say was "In essence its far easyer".. there lies the problem.. easy soultions for a generation and section of society that cant be arsed

by the way Broccoli is 50p in ASDA not ?1.50
Its even CHEAPER in a Greengrocers

[Raven]

Now to be fair, if you're on about people costing NHS money and not doing their health any good by not eating right and just going the convenience route - you can say the exact same thing of people that choose to drink alcohol excessively and smoke full stop. It's not just about "lazy" people taking the easy option and it's not just about the fat people either. It's all a cause and effect and end of the day it's about enjoying your life....I don't see what the problem is, if you like a drink then drink, if you want a fag then smoke, if you want chips for tea then have chips. It's pretty simple to fathom really. Cause and effect, and I'm sure there's plenty of people in shape that choose to drink and smoke....I wasn't born fat, but I'll be honest at the moment in my life I'm a good 2 - 3 stone overweight and though I did stop drinking and smoking ages ago I'm enjoying my life, though when I decide enough is enough the weight will be lost. But for the minute I'm enjoying my takeaways and bacon sarnies - and in all fairness there's nowt wrong with a bacon sarnie on a Saturday morning before the footy .

[Gumbo]

I think I hate the campaigners, its totally new fad and called campaignerism.

[Lainie]

well half the country is probably overweight including myself. i can assure you i dont cost the nhs much. ive never been admitted into hospital (other than miscarriage) and i always paid for my prescriptions (yearly) and yes i have been victimised because of weight and believe me its not nice. ive been in company where friends partners have danced with every girl in the company bar me. they think i dont notice as i dont say but believe me i do notice. thats just one example of many over the years. those who critisize please tell me what its like to be bloody perfect!!!!!

[forntida]

well half the country is probably overweight including myself. i can assure you i dont cost the nhs much. ive never been admitted into hospital (other than miscarriage) and i always paid for my prescriptions (yearly) and yes i have been victimised because of weight and believe me its not nice. ive been in company where friends partners have danced with every girl in the company bar me. they think i dont notice as i dont say but believe me i do notice. thats just one example of many over the years. those who critisize please tell me what its like to be bloody perfect!!!!!

It has its downsides too Lainie. People laugh at me when on the odd occassion I quote something I see without checking and it turns out to be wrong.

[Lainie]

people have a right to lead their lives no matter what colour of skin they are, what religion they are, what size they are (big or small), whether or not they wear glasses etc etc. these are things that no matter what you as an individual may think cannot be helped. the disability discrimination act helped with a lot of things (ie people with mental health problems to name just one) but it could go further as it discrimination does happen re size. ive worked all my life and ive never had a bad sick record. ive even been discriminated against as i dont have kids. one girl where i used to work said " why do you want xmas off - you dont have kids". believe me she got her answer from me but if she only knew the truth. so please please dont be so quick to judge people.

[thered]

fair points made i think by both by chroma and ops i agree with a lot of what both of you are saying fat people are 99% fat because they are lazy or eat too much or both i myself am moderately overweight my downfall is i eat too much i eat too quick then eat whatever the kids or the wife leave because i need to feel full and i dont like wasted food

i dont neccesarily think that taking the kids to mcdonalds is cheaper than buying some fresh veg ie for a dinner but i see your point

to feed a family of 5 in mcdonalds is roughly ?20 not cheap at all for one meal for a family on a budget but i take the point that a lot of poor families will feed themselves on chips and turkey twizzlers,nuggets,burgers and bread and butter all cheap and easy crap as oppose to the exta effort and expense of preparing veg

i do agree that doing veg and a sunday roast can be expensive i can get a decent sunday dinner out (with fresh veg and proper meat not frozen crap thats in most pubs now) for the family for nearly the same amount of cash as making it at home (barring drink of course)

im going to sit on the fence here lads you are both right with the broccoli it can be very expensive for just a small amount and like all fruit and veg varies in huge fluctuations week on week last year cucumbers went up too ?1.39 each they are very cheap now even down too 29p at aldi

[waqasahmed]

The thing is with me, I used to go to the gym often to do some cardio work etc... I'd say I was overweight, but not obese or anything Im really wanting to save up for a car, so I can drive to the gym in winter months and its tiring after a gym session to walk back home(the nearest "good" gym is 15 mins away from me by walking) I know some people say if I ran, that would be excercise enough, but I dont have the motivation in running, as I always aim to burn 10 or 11 calories/min. By wearing a heart rate monitor, thats hard to keep up with as you would constantly have to look at your watch, lift your arm up and no doubt feel dizzy as well as you cant make out what it says With treadmills and cross trainers, you can see how much you're burning in front of you. All in all, there are a lot of overweight people out there that want to lose weight, but lack motivation. Ive found what motivates me, but what demotivates me is having to walk to the nearest gym. People really do need to find what motivates them and if something demotivates them, try and do something about it as I am trying to do

[Raven]

That's absolutely true that.....come to think of it they should really try buttering the doors of the gym!

I'm sorry I'm only joking. Seriously you make a good point though m8.

[chroma]

Very rarely do i accuse people of talking absolute shite but please tell me how washing, cutting with a knife then placing in a pan of boiling water:

• Is a hassle
• Adds to the cost

I think you made a typo here, what you meant to say was "In essence its far easyer".. there lies the problem.. easy soultions for a generation and section of society that cant be arsed

by the way Broccoli is 50p in ASDA not ?1.50
Its even CHEAPER in a Greengrocers

Gas, electricity, clean water and so forth are clearly an abundant resource and therefore incredibly cheap, no wars have been started over aquiring them thus far right?

Ive been in situations where money being scarce was putting it mildly, i challenge you to find a truly healthy meal for a pittance over cheap junk alternatives, it's a difficult task.
And i dont mean just chuck cheap stuff into a basket, read some of the labels and watch in awe at the horrors contained, fire up google and type out some of the weirder coded "E-Number" ingredients some are not only unhealthy but downright dangerous, hence the reason they say E650 "flavour enhancer" instead of "Zinc Acetate" because no one really wants galvanising agent in their soup.

Eating "well" or "healthy" is an expensive luxury both financialy and yes in terms of time.

I can vividly remember uni, being flat broke, going to lectures, then going out to do a double shift to make rent and coming home with barely the ability to untie my laces let alone operate a cooker.
Id love to say i was lounging around getting drunk whilst pretending to study, i wish i had that luxury. This is why i added "the hassle" because in a lot of cases it is a hassle to cook, and i was far from lazy when it was a hassle.
Food was rarely on my agenda, i didnt have time for it, this is clearly not to say i was sat on my arse doing nothing, i had the opposite problem.
I know im not an exception in this case, friends and family where and are in the same boat and i dont consider most of them to be lazy.

Incidentaly the nearest greengrocer i know of thats still operating is over 30 miles into greater glasgow from me.
The local highstreet round here has a few card shops, bookies, pubs and pound shops infrequently spaced between boarded up shopfronts that couldnt make the rates and still turn a profit.

Im assuming your not a family man, in that you have no children of your own to watch after and feed. The changes are radical from being sans ties to having to worry not only about feeding yourself something healthy but having to do it to a household on a nightmare budget whilst both of you are completely overworked.

as further proof, look into some of jamie olivers school dinners and see just how much of a nightmare things where due to budgets (things in schools have improved since) its categorical proof that shite junkfood is cheaper to procure in abundance than the healthy option. I figure he has a greater understanding of either of us regarding food.