I got many responses to "Don't Hate Us Because We're Fat" (10/7/2011), in which a letter writer named Heavy But Human decried the bullying of overweight would-be presidential candidate Chris Christie. He argued that fat people are in the same class as gays or people of color, discriminated against just for being who they are. "Most overweight people are dealing with heredity or addiction or family issues," wrote Heavy But Human, who admitted that he and his daughter are also overweight. "Most of them aren't simply 'weak.' It burns me up to see adults behaving like schoolyard bullies when it comes to fat people - the last class of Americans whom one can belittle with impunity."
All the letters I received were supportive of Heavy But Human...except this one.
Dear Tell All: I think we should encourage the bullies. Fatty here is clearly lying.
Genes account for only 1 in 10,000 cases of obesity due to metabolic disorders like hypothyroidism (a study published by our own UW in about 2005-06 said that all human metabolic rates fall in a very narrow range and those outside were set by activity or lack thereof). Family issues are something most people use therapy to get over by the time they are 25. And addiction is still in the non-replicated hypothesis stage, and it's not looking good for it to become accepted theory.
If fatty and his daughter went on an 1,800-calorie vegan diet and rode their bikes 30 miles per day as hard as they can (have you ever seen how people who are supposedly "exercising" are often coasting and not pedaling?), I'm sure they'd get into the appropriate weight range in a few short months. I'm a 50-year-old athlete, and I weigh the same 165 pounds at 6'2" that I weighed in high school.
Fatty brought it upon himself and influenced his daughter to do the same, and it's appalling to hear him compare himself to people of color and homosexuals, who have no choice in the matter.
