Is It Really A Good Idea To Put This Out?

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1522381/binge-eating-gene-in-teenagers-is-discovered

Already I heard interviews with Big boned girls that are using it as an excuse.

The bottom line is, you have to eat too much to be fat ( I know believe me). Giving people this lifeline to not do something about it 'because its my genes' surely is not a good idea?

And how come this was not around over the years if hereditary?

[Cloverjo]

I don't remember seeing as many obese people, years ago, as I do now. The vast majority of female 20-something holidaymakers (who are all on a low income - no judgment intended, just a fact) who come into my place of work are obese. Their male partners tend to be skinny. I can't explain this. It can't just be genes.

[ummmm]

People have always claimed it's in their genes.

[douglas9401]

The gene can be identified quite easily as it makes a self pitying whine and emits puffs of dusty sugar when approached.

When I was at school, back in the black and white days, each class seemed to have one bigger boned child, possibly to act as a deterrent to the evils of gorging and sloth.

Excess sugar, fat but most of all, excuses, cause obesity.

[mikey4444]

Genes be beggered ! I am fat because I eat too much, and too much of the wrong things. Genetics have nothing to do with it.

I am 62 now. But I wasn't fat when I was younger, unlike all these teenagers, mostly but not all women, that I also see around, like Cloverjo.

A lot of them also still smoke, so they are building up huge problems for themselves in years to come.

[pastafreak]

"Big boned" is not the same as obese/overweight.
There are lots of factors that influence weight...including eating too much of the wrong foods...yes genetics,also thyroid problems,hormone imbalances,etc. A couple of generations ago,there wasn't the huge amount of crap food available that we have now...people ate three meals a day and did not snack...they also had more physical movement in the form of walking every where. There are more triggers that cause overeating,the underlying issues such as genetics have always been there.

[dave50]

If you're fat the you eat too much and move too little, end of story. Nobody to blame but yourself.

[woofgang]

so who shall we start on next?

[hc4361]

dave 50, that is true in the majority of cases but certainly not all. And what exactly does 'end of' mean?

[ummmm]

It's not starting on people. If being obese didn't bring health problems then hardly anyone would be bothered.

[douglas9401]

"so who shall we start on next?"

People with short attention spans?

[Mosaic]

How come we didn't have overweight ancestors?
We probably did, but their opportunity to get fat was usually limited (on the scale of the huge timespans involved). For most of our collective past, if you wanted food you had to go and find it or chase it. We find high-calorie foods totally irresistable - they stopped us starving, but were harder to come by. In first world culture food is abundant, but we are still thinking and reacting like our distant ancestors ie 'quick eat that before you starve'. In addition, gaining weight easily would be a useful gene in our distant past as these would be the individuals most likely to live through a famine.

[cassa333]

It may well be in the genes but it is still no excuse.

If you have a predisposition to something then is up to you to address it. All too often people want and use an excuse to blame someone or something else for their plight.

[woofgang]

"It's not starting on people. If being obese didn't bring health problems then hardly anyone would be bothered."

So nobody ever posts on here about what fat people should or shouldn't wear for instance?

[hc4361]

It seems we can't win. David Frost's son has died at 31, an athlete out for his morning run.

[ummmm]

Yes, and they also post about skinny people. For some strange reason it's perfectly acceptable to comment on someones weight if they are thin (as happened to me the other day) but not the other way round.

[mikey4444]

HC...Dave is right. While there may be some people who have a "glandular" problem, most people are fat for the reasons he gave. Look at the huge profusion on fast food outlets and takeaways that we see today.

I live in a small village, with a population of about 5000. But we have 2 chip shops, 2 chinese takeaways, 3 indian takeaways, 2 "kebab" places, and now a brand new Domino's Pizza. Lots of working class places that I visit for my work have a similar quota, if not more. I am not being hypocritical here, as I have a chinese takeaway on the first Friday of the month. But with all these places selling high fat and high calorie food, its quite clear what is causing this modern epidemic of obesity. And its not genetic !

[B00]

To be fair ummmm, I think pointing out skinny people happens as well, just not so many of those to be seen!

T'other day in school yard there was a REALLY skinny woman in skinny (no pun intended) jeans, and doc martin boots, I remember thinking she looked like a golf club.

[hc4361]

mikey, I said dave is right in the majority of cases, not all.

[Mosaic]

Ironically, the food types under discussion here are also the cheapest and easiest to come by. If you're poor, under pressure, lacking time and / or not the brightest, then these foods will be what you eat.
Enough of the judgements. I don't think fat=lazy/stupid has a place except to make the speaker / writer feel superior.

[ummmm]

B00...I think the problem is that people feel they can comment to a skinny persons face like it's not offensive. They wouldn't do that to someone who was overweight.