How Sad...

Reality check: you can never, ever, use weight loss to solve problems that are not related to your weight. At your goal weight or not, you still have to live with yourself and deal with your problems. You will still have the same husband, the same job, the same kids, and the same life. Losing weight is not a cure for life. ~Phillip C. McGraw, The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom, 2003

Was reading an article at WebMD about the price people would pay in order to avoid obesity.

Weight gain is something I struggle with. I am, in fact, thirty pounds heavier than when I was married ten years ago and about fifteen pounds heavier than where I'd like to be. I can't wear my wedding ring right now -- between my extra weight and the heat/humidity that's causing my fingers to swell, it simply won't fit.

BUT... would I be in any of these percentages?

We all harbor antiobesity bias -- even those of us who are, ourselves, overweight or obese.

And we're so afraid of being fat that we'd make tremendous sacrifices to avoid it, find Marlene B. Schwartz, PhD, associate director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and colleagues.

As part of her online study of antiobesity bias, Schwartz asked lean, normal weight, and heavy people what they'd be willing to give up if only it would keep them -- or make them -- not obese.

"A surprising number of people would make significant sacrifices," Schwartz tells WebMD. "That is an indication of how aversive being obese is."

'Desperate' to Avoid Obesity

Among the 4,283 people who participated in Schwartz's online survey, in order not to be obese:

46% said they'd give up a year of life.
15% said they'd give up 10 years of life.
25% said they'd rather be unable to have children.
15% said they'd rather be clinically depressed.
14% said they'd rather be alcoholic.
5% said they'd give up a limb.
4% said they'd rather be blind.
Moreover, 10% of participants said they'd rather have an anorexic child than an obese child. Eight percent said they'd rather have a learning-disabled child than an obese child.

"It is easy to hypothetically say you would give something up, so I would take this with a grain of salt," Schwartz says. "But the fact they would even say it shows how desperate people are to avoid being obese."

Schwartz and colleagues report their findings in the current issue of the journal Obesity.

These findings are so sad, especially the part about kids. My DD is a little heavier than I'd like her to be, but she's still growing and not unhealthy, so I don't worry that much. BUT my husbands family is terribly fixated about weight (my SIL taught my 7 y.o. daughter the following phrase: "He who indulges, bulges" and repeats it often). My daughter told me the other day that she was fat, and needed to go on a diet. ACK!! I'm terrified I'll end up with an anorexic child -- how could those people, above, be willing to risk the death of a child rather than try to teach their child about healthy eating and exercise??

So, so sad ... but it does give me some ideas for a story.

Of course :-)