Don't Be Hatin'

"You see them. Your rail-thin coworker who seems to live on pizza and never exercises. The skinny sibling whose best friends are Ben & Jerry. The svelte buddy who never met a second helping he didn't like. We hate these people."

(Brian Good, May &June 2006, AARP Magazine)

Thanks, Brian. We hate you, too.

Obesity has been called an epidemic. The National Center for Health Statistics 2003-2004 data indicates that approximately 32 percent of adults in the United States are obese. Add people who are overweight, and the total jumps to 66 percent.

Let me say that again.

Two-thirds of the adults in the United States are overweight or obese.

I guess it's no wonder thin people are hated. We're the healthy minority; the ones with self-control and/or the right genes to keep us at healthy weights. Don't blame genetics too much, though. Even Brian Good admits that DNA is only part of the cause of obesity. He says, "it turns out that lifelong-lean people just have better control over what they put in their mouths."

Um...duh.

Ditch the snarky comments, stop asking me if I want more to eat, and turn your hatred into motivation to improve your health.

And Brian? Shut up.