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The Nerve of Some People

I know that this bill was proposed months ago but I wanted to take a minute to address the absurdity of it. Just see for yourself.

This bill was introduced into the Mississippi House of Representatives on January 25, 2008 and this is what it states:

HOUSE BILL NO. 282
An act to prohibit certain food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health; to direct the department to prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments; to direct the department to monitor the food establishments for compliance with the provisions of this act; and for related purposes. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi:

SECTION 1.
(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.

I was horrified when I read this and immediately I jumped on the NAAFA website (NAAFA stands for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance) and found a post that they had made stating that the bill had been quashed. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard and this “War against Obesity” is getting out of hand. The men who proposed this so-called bill are an ex-pharmaceutical representative, a former businessman, and a pharmacist, now I’ve never seen pictures of them but my guess is that they’re at least average in weight but I can tell you this, they’re discriminating against the majority of the country. From what I understand if it had passed anyone with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30 or more would be denied service at any restaurant, a restaurant as being defined at 5 or more seats.

Obesity is not the epidemic that’s sweeping the nation! Since the 1950’s there have been increased pressure to be thin; people believe that only the thin are deserving of things like sex, money, and friends but did you know that leading researchers are starting to discover that diets are the leading cause of obesity?

The intended result of a diet is to reset your body’s natural weight range to a lower level but what it actually does is raise that set range to compensate for the starvation that the body feels while on a diet. Society tells us that if we stick to a sensible diet that we can maintain a low weight or even lose weight however those “sensible diets” prescribe an amount of food that’s too low for even a thin person to tolerate. The normal daily calorie intake for an adult is between 2400 and 3000 calories yet these diets recommend a range starting at 945 and going up to 1200 calories a day. According to the World Health Organization starvation starts at 900 calories that means that most diets would be classified as starvation or near starvation!

A recent study showed that 64% of Americans weigh more than the weight charts recommend and 14% weigh under the recommended weight for their height and age however the chart, which was created by an insurance company in 1959, was only revised once and that was in 1979. This chart was not created using information from any medical study, included primarily white males, and was economically biased. The term overweight is inaccurate and offensive because of this; how can we accurately determine that this country is obese if the charts we’re measuring against haven’t been studied or revised in almost 30 years?

Here’s a little food for thought directly from the NAAFA website.

The Seven Country Study, the Framingham, Albany, Tecumseh, Chicago People's Gas, and Chicago Western Electric studies all found that people 20-40% over the weight charts lived the longest. And although mortality, or the chance of dying, increases with weight, the people who actually lived the shortest life spans were those at or below the weight charts.

In addition to longer life spans, fat people can have lower rates of most cancers and respiratory diseases. Fat people have lowered incidence of pre-menopausal breast cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, meningioma, and colon cancer. They also have lower rates of bronchitis, tuberculosis, scoliosis, peptic ulcer, anemia, hip fracture, and vertebral fracture.

Most Americans have been taught to view fat as some sort of poison in their bodies. And while eating high quantities of fat may be bad for your health, fat tissue is a vital part of our bodies, which provides energy stores, insulation from the cold, and cushioning for the rest of our bodies.

Different body types have different strengths and weaknesses. While a fat person might have more complications from a broken leg, they also are less likely to break bones in the first place. Looking at how to be healthy and happy in the body you have is more realistic and more productive.

Again I’ll say that if this hasn’t been enlightening for you I’m sorry that I’ve wasted your time, but if you were as outraged about this bill as I was then take a step in the right direction. Help stop the discrimination of fat people.

Note: Not long after H. Bill 282 was proposed in Mississippi a bill appeared in the Massachusetts House, H Bill 1844 adding height and weight to the state's existing anti-discrimination laws. If you support this movement please, please check out this link www.naafaonline.com/Fight!/Fight_Size_Discrimination_Now%21. html