@ayeshasharma Your posts are very thought provoking.

When I was a younger, working person in a professional job I very definitely saw a lot of gender bias. When I think of it now I’m appalled and so glad that my daughter doesn’t have to go through as much as I did, but I don’t think it’s entirely gone. You would not believe some of what I went through. I was in IT, which back then was male-dominated.

As a person who has gone from being extremely overweight to now not being overweight (still do have a BMI slightly in the overweight range) I also know the prejudice against fat people. I really wish I had the will-power to lose weight when I was younger but I didn’t. Pregnancy and being a stay-at-home mom was not good for my weight.
I was gradually losing weight, mostly because I knew it was bad for my heart and both of my non-overweight parents died from heart problems in their 60s. When I was diagnosed with cirrhosis from fatty liver I was really hit with a bomb! I then put much more attention into working out and losing weight. So now, when I see young people who are grossly overweight I want to shake them! Not because of how they look, people can still be very pretty when they are overweight, plus a person’s value should not be based on their looks. In fact I think my face looked better at a higher weight, but because I am all too aware of the health risks I knew I needed to lose. .
Yes, many overweight people choose to be that way but I wonder if they were more aware of the health risks they might lose weight. I knew it was bad for my heart but I had no idea about the other risks. I think doctors should make their overweight patients aware of ALL of the risks but I think they don’t because they are afraid they will lose that person as a patient.
JK

@ayeshasharma - Very interesting video. To echo a little of what @contentandwell talked about, I thought it was interesting that I didn't hear any questions that related to health - e.g., do you think your weight affects your health? or your ability to participate in healthy social activities? It seemed to focus entirely on attractiveness - acceptance of body image - etc. I guess, if I had to come down on one side or the other, I think I would view extreme obesity in the same way I would view addiction to anything - drugs, alcohol, nicotine. It's not healthy, it limits your life choices, and it shortens your life expectancy. I would try to help my children or family members overcome a food addiction that resulted in obesity in the same way I would try to help them overcome a drug, tobacco, or alcohol addiction. I wouldn't love them any less, but I would want them to be as strong and healthy as possible.

@ayeshasharma : thanks for a thought-provoking video. Interesting to hear that the people mostly don’t feel like they want to or need to lose weight, even though some of them would be ok with it if they did. Like Florida Mary, I was put off by the exaggerated suggestion that you work out 8 hours a day to get skinny. And regarding the comments about the world being geared to average and slender people - yes, I somewhat agree. But in the particular reference to airplane seats, or movie theater seats, I definitely disagree who is at a disadvantage. If I have an oversize person next to me who takes up both armrests, and part of my allotted seat space on top of that, it is I who is very much disadvantaged.
Also, in general I would say that the increase in the number of overweight people has been snowballing. I recently went through a box of old photos, from roughly 1940 on, taken in Germany and Austria. Not a single adult or child in any of those photos is anything but very skinny, no matter how the individuals ended up later in their lives. War and food rationing will do that to you. People had bigger worries than self image.
Setting aside medical or emotional issues, I agree that there needs to be more of an education and push by physicians to reduce the weight epidemic. I mentioned at some point that I have a grandson who, at age 14, had gradually packed on about 20 lbs. No gentle steering (at that age you don’t really formally put someone on a diet or preach daily to him) worked. UNTIL he attended a lecture about the effects of juvenile diabetes. Bingo! He voluntarily cut out all sweets - which he loved -, and is now at 16 average to below average weight.
And lastly, compared to the 6 women and men in the clip, while they are definitely overweight, that is nothing compared to what I routinely see on a daily basis around town. Think an additional 60 or more lbs. on top of what the heaviest person weighs, trouble walking, often even in fairly young persons. There is one (male) worker at our local Lowe’s store who’s pretty tall, perhaps 6’4”, but his upper arms (not muscle) are about the size of my waist. Consequently, he’s not very efficient in his job, as I found out when I needed help some months ago shopping for new entrance doors. He could barely walk to the display models, almost impossible for him to get his arms between the samples, etc. At this point I think acceptance of his choice should be weighed against his ability to perform his job.
PS. My PCP recently moved to a different location, and on my first visit to his new digs I noticed that half the seats in the waiting area, and the patient’s chair in the examination room, were X-wide. Sad reality. Second time within 3 months that I saw that in a medical office setting.