Attitudes have been changing some but too often doctors treat overweight people like any health problem they have is directly related to their weight, a view which is of course anti-science and ridiculous, as well as hurtful. My wife has struggled with weight all her life. She eats less than I do. Weight isn’t just about food intake. So why the opprobrium directly at the overweight?
You come in with a headache, and the doctors say, ‘You really need to lose weight.’ You have a sore throat, and the doctor says, ‘You really need to lose weight,’ ” he said. “These patients feel like the doctor doesn’t help them and they insult them, and so they stop going.”
Weights for all sorts of critters have been going up the past few decades. This includes non-domesticated animals as well as humans. Clearly, something else is going on too.
Many researchers believe that personal gluttony and laziness cannot be the entire explanation for humanity’s global weight gain. Which means, of course, that they think at least some of the official focus on personal conduct is a waste of time and money.