1. Overweight people don't choose to be fat, lazy, and stupid.
I work part-time in a grocery store's bakery. My co-workers are obviously overweight and gray-haired. Yet, they are able and healthy enough to provide good-quality customer service. I volunteer part-time on a weekly basis at a hospice, and the middle-aged supervisor appears overweight and big. Like many white-collar Americans, she has a sitting office job. Overweight people in America are the majority, not the minority. They have part-time and full-time jobs. But because of the changed and biologically incompatible food environment, eating healthy food is like swimming upstream. People can't make informed, rational decisions when they are tired or stressed out. In the swimming analogy, people can't swim upstream with a weakened body.
2. Overweight people are not gluttonous.
Certainly, eating too much food is manifested in overweight individuals. But then, many overweight individuals have leptin resistance, which drives obesity and metabolic disorders. Normally, people eat until they are full. In overweight individuals, people are never full.
3. Overweight people are not ugly.
Some people like big people. Some people like thin people. There are many different kinds of people in the world, fat and thin. And they all found mates for themselves.
4. TOFI people are at risk of obesity-related illnesses
In today's society, people glorify being thin. People think that just because you're thin, you're automatically "healthy" and immune to metabolic diseases. That is dangerous thinking. Normal-weight and underweight individuals are not immune to metabolic diseases. People who are normal-weight or underweight and have metabolic diseases are TOFI (thin on the outside, fat on the inside). What these people are sheltered from is the constant harassment that society gives to the big and fat people.
5. The weight on the scale is a poor measure of health
Some people are just built bigger and heavier than other people. This creates the impression that these people are fatter, or that there is something wrong with their weight. Heaviness and bigness are not really good absolute indicators for personal health. It is possible to be big and metabolically healthy at the same time. This does NOT give license to eat junk. Just being overweight does not kill. It's the metabolic diseases that kill.
6. The waist circumference is better but not foolproof
Some people measure waist circumference or wrist circumference. Those things are better at detecting health risks, but they are not foolproof. Measuring the waist or wrist circumference depends heavily on fat distribution. Some people just don't accumulate fat in the wrist, so they may be in "normal" range of wrist circumference despite being metabolically obese. Other people just happen to have a large wrist, but everything is proportional to each other in the wrist. Same goes for the waist. Although there is a "normal" waistline circumference, the normal is just the average of the population. Some people have small bodies; some people have big bodies. Obviously, if you just have a big body, then you will have a big waist, and going any narrower in your waistline may make you kind of anorexic-looking.
7. Metabolic disorders should be the main concern, not obesity
Although obesity and metabolic disorders are linked, they are not the same. Obesity does not cause metabolic disorders; it may be the outward manifestation of the malfunctioning of the body and the mind. By limiting metabolic disorders to the obese and blaming the obese "for failing to take care of themselves", thin-looking people who are metabolically obese are deprived of accurate diagnosis and adequate healthcare. So, this fat-shaming behavior just hurts everybody, fat and thin.
8. Obesity is not one individual's fault
No one chooses to be obese. With all the negative effects of obesity, is there any motivation to become obese? No. People become obese for making irrational choices about food within a toxic food environment, and the irrational "choices" are heavily influenced by biochemical factors. They have done what they always have done - eat local food. And well, if the food around you just happens to induce fatness and sickness, then you will get fat and sick.
Wrapping Up
Fortunately, there is hope. While people usually do not choose to be fat and sick, they do have the choice to treat their condition and alter their food environment, if given the opportunity. If that opportunity is deprived, then, well, people really are screwed. I think people should do well with the presence of two or more grocery stores in the neighborhood, within walking or driving distance. With two or more grocery stores in place, people just have to stop recognizing junk food as food and be able to read Nutrition Facts labels. Though, fresh produce and meats don't always have nutrition labels, and whole-grain rice may display the nutrition facts for uncooked rice, not cooked rice. In the United States, literacy is widespread, and public libraries are abundant. With free access to books and the Internet thanks to the public libraries, people should be able to spend a few minutes on the Internet every day (just a few minutes!) and do a quick search on healthy, clean, easy, fast recipes. Then, people just have to eat from small, glass containers. Glass, because they can be heated in the microwave or oven safely. Food will always be well-portioned in the finite glass containers, so the people will never overeat. They may feel a bit hungry between meals, but if they stick to a strict meal plan that they've made themselves, they will not overeat. It may be important to drink some water too or consume water-laden foodstuffs, because water is a nice space-filler and makes food bigger than it really is.
In terms of physical activity, people may force themselves to do stretches, sit-ups, and push-ups in the wee hours of the morning and cycling or running in the evening around dinnertime or as a way to commute. With a balanced diet and robust physical activity, anybody can live a healthy life, regardless of his or her actual body size, shape, or weight. Treating and preventing metabolic diseases should be the main goal; any weight loss that results from a healthy diet and regular physical activity is a side benefit, but not the main purpose.
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