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In reply to the discussion: Fit mother attacked on Facebook [View all]wickerwoman
(5,662 posts)they've found overweight people cost the health care system less because they die younger. If you factored in all of the social security checks they won't live to cash, then society comes out ahead. And how much does society pay for knee replacement surgeries and torn ligaments and other sports related injuries? I haven't had a single sick day this year but my fitness-crazed coworkers are constantly breaking and tearing things. The woman I sit next to is down for five months of physical therapy after tearing a tendon playing volleyball. And extreme exercise breaks down your immune system so you're actually more vulnerable to colds and flus.
I don't have any kids and don't plan to have any so no worries there.
Calling bullshit on second-hand fatness, sorry. With the exception of parents teaching bad eating habits to their kids (and again, not an issue for many people who don't have kids), people make their own food choices. My eating a brownie doesn't compel anyone else to do the same. And even kids who grow up in appalling food environments can teach themselves better eating habits. When I was growing up I ate Lucky Charms for breakfast, hamburgers for lunch and takeout pizza or fried chicken for dinner literally every day for twelve years. I had maybe one serving of vegetables a week, if that. After college, I developed serious allergies so I taught myself how to cook to manage them without medication and now I'd put what I eat, nutrition-wise, against any gym bunny you name. I'm overweight because I enjoy eating and don't work out beyond normal daily activities (walking everywhere and gardening). And I have completely normal results at my annual physical.
The impact of driving drunk versus being fat on others is a ridiculous comparison which is obviously why drunk driving is illegal and being overweight isn't (yet). Drunk drivers kill about 10,000 people a year. Fat people make a lifestyle choice for themselves, potentially trading off years at the end of their life for pleasure today. It is their choice to make and anyone who feels compelled to shame them into make a different one needs to get a life and learn how to mind their own business.