Smoking vs being over weight

wow very good discussion!.. im over weight. because im very short no matter my weight im still over wieght unless im 93 lbs then im right at normal. i would be so upset if somoene had made comments to me about this. because its my body not their buisness. and i feel the same about smoking. now i can see if it was a pregnant girl standing their puffing away. of course that is ganna bring attention. but just me smoking. yeah my body u have no say so save ur breath... oxoxoxbritt

I think they may have more issues with weight then with smoking. Not that I agree with bulling anyone about either, BUT not everyone is overweight by choice. I'm almost certain my weight issue is medical related, because no matter WHAT I try I cannot loose weight, unless they put me on some impossible to maintain diet.

I've never known anyone go up to a smoker and be so rude although I have known people ask others not to smoke, etc. The thing I have a problem with when people compare smoking to being overweight is that not many people choose to be overweight. Of course there are thise who can do something about it but there are many who can't. I know that's not what you are saying, I just thought I'd mention it! But, the point I was going to make is that people already do go up to overweight people and insult except that in my personal experience, people tend to have more of a bullying attitude when shouting abuse at overweight people. For example, I have always been overweight (not by much!) and have had people insult me, telling me I'm fat and I should go on a diet, get some exercise, etc. and I'm sure I'm not the only overweight person who has tried all those things without success. I'm sure it is had to quit smoking if you want to but my argument (well, not really an argument) is that smokers chose to smoke and smokers do stink but no, I don't think it's ok to go up to someone and tell them and I do agree with you that other people stink too but no one would tell them even though they think it is acceptable to say such things to a smoker. I don't know about society being friendly to overweight people but where I live, it's more acceptable to smoke than to be overweight.

There was a report that came out I believe it was last week that said Americans are now the fattest people in the world -- which is not EXACTLY true, we are the fattest non-3rd world country. We are actually ranked #9 9. United States 74.1 * percentage of people who's BMI (body mass index) is above average (obese or higher) The UK is 28th on the list and Australia is not even on the list... the full list is below thanks to forbes.com 1. Nauru 94.5 2. Micronesia, Federated States of 91.1 3. Cook Islands 90.9 4. Tonga 90.8 5. Niue 81.7 6. Samoa 80.4 7. Palau 78.4 8. Kuwait 74.2 9. United States 74.1 10. Kiribati 73.6 11. Dominica 71.0 12. Barbados 69.7 13. Argentina 69.4 14. Egypt 69.4 15. Malta 68.7 16. Greece 68.5 17. New Zealand 68.4 18. United Arab Emirates 68.3 19. Mexico 68.1 20. Trinidad and Tobago 67.9 21. Australia 67.4 22. Belarus 66.8 23. Chile 65.3 24. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 65.2 25. Seychelles 64.6 26. Bahrain 64.1 27. Andorra 63.8 28. United Kingdom 63.8 29. Saudi Arabia 63.5 30. Monaco 62.4 31. Bolivia 62.2 32. San Marino 62.1 33. Guatemala 61.2 34. Mongolia 61.2 35. Canada 61.1 36. Qatar 61.0 37. Uruguay 60.9 38. Jordan 60.5 39. Bahamas 60.4 40. Iceland 60.4 41. Nicaragua 60.4 42. Cuba 60.1 43. Germany 60.1 44. Brunei Darussalam 59.8 45. Slovenia 59.8 46. Peru 59.6 47. Vanuatu 59.6 48. Finland 58.7 49. Jamaica 57.4 50. Israel 57.3 51. Saint Lucia 57.3 52. Austria 57.1 53. Azerbaijan 57.1 54. Turkey 56.8 55. Tuvalu 56.6 56. Dominican Republic 56.5 57. Slovakia 56.3 58. Cyprus 56.2 59. Saint Kitts and Nevis 56.1 60. Costa Rica 55.8 61. Colombia 55.6 62. Antigua and Barbuda 55.5 63. Switzerland 55.4 64. Montenegro 54.9 65. Serbia 54.9 66. Serbia and Montenegro (The former state union of) 54.9 67. Albania 54.8 68. Fiji 54.8 69. Bulgaria 54.2 70. Luxembourg 54.2 71. Croatia 53.9 72. Bosnia and Herzegovina 53.8 73. Portugal 53.8 74. Armenia 53.3 75. Grenada 53.3 76. South Africa 53.3 77. Iran (Islamic Republic of) 53.2 78. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 53.2 79. Lithuania 53.1 80. Lebanon 53.0 81. Czech Republic 52.9 82. Syrian Arab Republic 52.8 83. Spain 51.8 84. Hungary 51.6 85. Panama 51.4 86. Tunisia 51.0 87. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 50.6 88. Brazil 50.5 89. Belize 49.8 90. Sweden 49.7 91. Norway 49.1 92. Russian Federation 49.1 93. El Salvador 48.7 94. Lesotho 48.5 95. Suriname 47.8 96. Paraguay 47.7 97. Guyana 47.5 98. Poland 47.5 99. Latvia 47.3 100. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 47.2 101. Ecuador 47.1 102. Turkmenistan 46.8 103. Ireland 46.6 104. Belgium 46.3 105. Marshall Islands 46.2 106. Netherlands 46.0 107. Uzbekistan 46.0 108. Denmark 45.8 109. Mauritius 45.6 110. Oman 45.6 111. Italy 45.5 112. Iraq 45.4 113. Georgia 44.8 114. Ukraine 44.8 115. Solomon Islands 44.0 116. Botswana 43.6 117. Honduras 43.5 118. Equatorial Guinea 43.0 119. Morocco 42.9 120. Dem. Republic of Timor-Leste 42.7 121. Mauritania 42.5 122. Estonia 42.2 123. Republic of Korea 42.0 124. Swaziland 41.8 125. Kazakhstan 41.4 126. Republic of Moldova 41.1 127. Bhutan 40.9 128. France 40.1 129. Cameroon 39.9 130. Maldives 39.9 131. Algeria 39.8 132. Dem. People's Republic of Korea 39.4 133. Kyrgyzstan 39.2 134. Romania 39.1 135. Lao People's Democratic Republic 38.9 136. Cape Verde 38.2 137. Tajikistan 37.3 138. Gabon 36.5 139. Myanmar 36.3 140. Liberia 35.6 141. Sierra Leone 33.4 142. Haiti 32.8 143. Zimbabwe 32.1 144. Thailand 31.6 145. Papua New Guinea 30.2 -- the not fat breaking point 146. Malaysia 29.9 147. Ghana 29.2 148. China 28.9 149. Benin 28.5 150. Comoros 28.0 151. Angola 27.5 152. Nigeria 27.1 153. Yemen 27.0 154. Senegal 26.4 155. Philippines 25.2 156. Djibouti 24.9 157. Mali 24.1 158. Togo 24.0 159. Guinea 23.5 160. Sudan 23.1 161. Cote d'Ivoire 22.9 162. Singapore 22.9 163. Japan 22.6 164. Namibia 22.5 165. Pakistan 22.2 166. Sao Tome and Principe 21.4 167. United Republic of Tanzania 21.2 168. Malawi 19.3 169. Congo 18.9 170. Niger 17.6 171. Madagascar 17.4 172. Mozambique 17.3 173. Guinea-Bissau 16.7 174. Gambia 16.6 175. Indonesia 16.2 176. India 16.0 177. Somalia 15.8 178. Chad 15.6 179. Afghanistan 15.1 180. Uganda 14.8 181. Kenya 14.3 182. Burkina Faso 14.1 183. Rwanda 13.7 184. Zambia 13.0 185. Burundi 12.9 186. Central African Republic 12.9 187. Cambodia 11.3 188. Dem. Republic of the Congo 9.1 189. Nepal 8.4 190. Sri Lanka 7.4 191. Viet Nam 6.4 192. Bangladesh 6.1 193. Ethiopia 5.6 194. Eritrea 4.4 Now for your question... how long before fat people get 'bullied'. I think it is already happening. People that can't fit into airline chairs and need to buy 2 seats, people who are ostrasized from society from being too big. What HAS happened is the bar keeps raising. What is a 34 waist in America (meaning 34 inches around) is no longer a 34. Manufacturers have made it bigger to make us feel better about ourselves. Save for women. Even MORE so. I have a sister-in-law who is from a size 1 to a size 8 depending on the manufacturer. Now will we be forced to stop eating? No way. It doesn't interfere with others (second hand smoke does) which is a large (no pun) point. The ironic thing... Americans work out more than any other nation but are fatter than any other one... something is just not right.

Some people are. I am overweight, & had a kid ask "Why are you so fat?" I replied "If you think I am, you should see my roommate." Both my roommate & my former roommate have had kids say that to them, & they were a lot less polite. the former roomie asked why he was so rude, the current one asked the kid why he was so short & informed him that he wasn't likely to get taller if he said that to people. A gal my the roomie's job got walked because she was overheard in the ladies room by a supervisor saying - after being told to go to "X" because she knows the information. This bimbo replied that she wasn't going to ask her because she was fat & fat people are stupid. Who is stupid now?

Nobody can make another person feel guilty, though, Nancy. Guilt is a feeling only we ourselves can allow into our consciousness and we usually only do it when we suspect in some tiny corner of our being that the other person was right, at least in part. As for the overweight people, please come visit my most recent discussion and you will find your answer.

I think that's a load of crap! I don't like smoking but I would never disrespect someone who does?! The fact is that the jury is still out on second hand smoke - we don't know definitively that it does cause cancer in non-smokers -- so if someone we wants to smoke knowing the potential health problems -- well it's their life not mine. Now I do harp on my hubby about it (and some other family & friends) LOL but that's another story and not what the discussion is about. I think we pity the over weight right now and just blame smokers LOL. I think too that the idea or second hand smoke causing cancers and things scares us stupid sometimes too. *note - I've heard and seen so many statistics on second hand smoke that I don't know what to believe on it. But I here's my thoughts about it -- those who are constantly around a smoker (such as myself as my hubby and damn near everyone else I know) smokes are probably at a much greater risk to getting the negative side effects from inhaling all that smoke. Now those who aren't around it but very little most likely have a bigger chance of getting cancer from heating plastics, and all the other millions of things that we now know can cause cancer.

I agree with you completely. I am a smoker & overweight. I am sick of all the excuses people use to have a go at me about smoking. Sometimes I think they do this simply because it seems to be a legitimate way to have a go at someone, not because they are genuinely concerned. I have always said that when I loose the required weight, I would then try giving up smoking. It is impossible to do both at the same time.

It will not take that long. I feel like doing it myself and I am overweight and according to my bm obese although I do not look it, but I will not for the following reasons. All the Fast Food-- are offering food that is good for you, a selection of low calorie and low carbs - here comes a rant now, BUT WHERE WERE THEY IN THE 1970S TO 1990S when I was gradually putting on weight? I did not go to the fast food that often but when I was at home, everything had trans fat and cake mixes have shortening -transfat -obesity. So in a way, you can see that these fat people got that way not just by overeating the wrong food, but by unknowingly eating the wrong type of fat. Smokers did know about the dangerous effects of smoking sooner and so anyone deriding them to stop can be expected. As soon as everyone knows of the dangers of trans fats and other contributors to obesity, then people will start deriding them about obesity because with most everyon else being healthy and more slender they will be the odd one out. But there are still a lot of obese people alive and that time has not come yet.

Well I myself am overweight and faced this kind of problem. I am not that obese but so often I hear comments like 'oh you must lose weight' or 'have you gained weight lately' etc. Comments either from friends or from people who don't know me well. It is really annoying to approach people this way, whether they're smokers or overweight. I mean come on. Listen to this story of mine: A guy I know is a heavy smoker, one day, he felt something in his chest, he got worried and went to the doctor who told him, he needs to quit smoking and use medications before something bad happens to his lungs. When he told one of his friends what happened, then that friend took the oppertunity to encourage him stop smoking before it gets serious. You see what I mean? That friend chose the right time to talk. It is just not appropriate to jump and give a bunch of advices to someone caused you may sound like attacking him not caring about him. I mean, the problem with a lot of people that they don't know when to say what, got me? I just don't like rude and impolite people, maybe they mean well but the approach is bad. Nice Topic ....

I'm afraid you're probably right. When a group of people are the designated villains of the week (or month, year, whatever) it seems to give people the go-ahead to say anything they want to say to complete strangers. As a smoker who wishes I could quit but I guess I don't want it quite enough yet, I've had lots of experiences with total strangers saying things to me that I'd never say to anyone! For now, we smokers are the ones it's OK to attack and the truth is, when people say rude things to smokers they really don't think of it as being rude or forward, they just assume they have every right to say what they choose to us evil smokers. Annie

hello nancyrowina,I was a smoker and I know what you're going through.the humiliation,the embarrassment,the guilt!I totally understand.People who are judgmental should just keep their opinions to themselves.You've made your point.

Yeah, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. A coin toss. I quit for 4 years and vowed not to be a pain-in-the-rear ex-smoker. It worked but I did gain weight. They say that the weight gain is just your body, going back to were it should have been. But, food tastes so good and it's hard to say no.

Well, having been in both positions at some time in my life, I can tell you that it's definitely easier to quit smoking than to lose weight. In many cases, being overweight does not come as a result of stuffing yourself silly, but is connected with certain conditions and/or medication that makes it impossible for you to lose any weight, even if you follow a sensible diet. I have a hormonal problem which is under control now and it's become easier for me to lose the extra pounds, but I've got to admit that when I was diagnosed I felt totally put out when the doctor said to me "you know what, now you'll have to be on a diet for the rest of your life". I believe that people have knowledge that some things they put into their bodies are bad, and they shouldn't be bullied about their weaknesses. Who knows, that lady who spoke to you might have had a weakness even worse than smoking. My parents, my brother and my fiance are still smokers, but I never have a go at them, I only offer them advice and support every time they decide to try and quit. I think that would be more productive, because the most you tell people what not to do, the more they go ahead and do it anyway. But yes, seeing that overweight children already get bullied at school, it's only a matter of time when overweight adults will be too.

This is a good discussion. People do feel it is their right to go up to someone and tell them that they need to quit smoking. That is just plain rude. As far as people smelling from their smoking they already know that there is a odor around them and on their cloths. My husband is a smoker and he has made the comment that he knows this about smoking. I agree with you that people are taking these liberties now with smokers. How long down the road will it be before they feel themselves justified to target over weight people. It is wrong and rude to go up to anyone including ones family and make comments to them.

I think fat people already get a fair share of ridicule. Both smoking and obesity are really diseases and should be treated as such. The way healthcare is though it will never happen. No one wants the financial responsibility. Unfortunately as human beings we are all fallible so no one can be or will be perfect. What is right for one may not be right for another, we need to have more respect for others no matter what their obvious faults may be. Harassment will not make people correct their problems and in many cases may just create more and worse problems.

Smoking vs. being overweight.... should be called... dying slowly, effectivly, and painfully vs. being beautiful for who you are. But hey... just an opinion.

I agree with you. I don't see how people can think it is ok to be rude to someone because they smoke. And, you can even take it a bit further. Why do people ridicule me simply because I don't have children? It's not a choice I made. It's biological. But for the last 20 years all I have heard is that I should have kids. Why?? The world stinks. Why bring someone into it if I choose not too. Again, not that I made that choice. But, people assume that since I don't have kids that I never wanted them. My step-father was at the hospital when I had a hysterectomy. A year later he thought it was funny to ask me when I was going to have kids because I needed to catch up with everyone else. People are just generally rude, unobservant, and uncaring. That's my opinion, anyway. And, how long until people tell gays and lesbians that they are stupid because they are not contributing to the population growth? I think there will always be something that people think others shouldn't do.

I concur with this post. if more people would object with the people who are haevy on their feet maybe the message would sink in to do something about this epidemic in weight control or lack of it is many things that causes the problem but the simple solution is diet and exercise. there is no magic pill. wish there was. if you think the world will be cruel now about being out of shape..think of the future with the limits put on seats in airplanes, buses, cars, and even home furniture..wheelchairs are very heavy and take up ramps to move and extra lift doors plus any nurse will tell you the equiptment you must use just to move these people for the toilet or the bath..i have seen a lot working in the hospitals seeing theses heavy people strubble just to go to supper or to visit someone. You become a prisoner in your own body. Good luck

First of all Nancy, I love your responses. Just "met" you today when I check the discussions I started and checked that Q&A with crash. Anyhow, you're brilliant! I am a smoker. A part of me wants to quit, the other isn't quite ready yet. I haven't had one yet today and I have been awake for 4 hours so that's okay right! On the other hand, I'm very concerned about what me and my family eat. I know this might sound like I am a mean spouse, but I don't allow my boyfriend to eat poutine more than twice a month. We don't eat Mcdonald's only maybe 3 or 4 times a year, and usually when we are with people who want to go there. Pop, coke, pepsi, is a treat. Chips are a treat. They do stay in our house everyday. I make sure we get our fruits and veggies. Anyhow. Here is my point. People have made comments about me smoking that made me feel horrible about myself - and they did it in front of people. On the other hand, they eat crappy food and are a little unhealthy/overweight. I didn't say anything in return but I wanted to say, so I should stop smoking for my health, why don't you put down that cheeseburger and eat a salad tubby? Why do you think you're fat? You complain about being fat but you're not actually doing anything about it! When I am at a restaurant and I see an overweight person eating a lot of disgusting food I really almost want ot puke. Not that I don't like overweight people! Because I am a little overweight myself! But I eat right! I exercise, and I'm still overweight. I don't believe in taking pills to lose weight or having surgeries. This is how I am and I am learning to accept myself that way. But if you are overweight, and eating badly, you should not complain about being overweight! If you are a smoker, and you smell like smoke, you should n ot complain about stinking! It just makes sense. And if you wouldn't say to someone, man you're fat you shouldn't be eating that. then do not tell a smoker, man you know that's bad for you right? Smoking causes lung cancer. Well guess what? Obessity can cause heart disease, diabetes, irritable bowel disorder just to name a few! what is our society coming to?!?! People need to mind their own business. It's okay if someone's asks for help or advice, yeah give it. Follow my mom's advice: If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.