Morbid Obesity Help to Understand?

I think there is more to it then meets the eye. Sure, in some cases it is simply overeating and lack of exercise, but in many cases it is an illness. Nobody wants to be overweight and society has labeled overweight people as lazy slobs. In many cases there is an underlying disease or hormone imbalance that can cause weight gain and no matter how much a person diets, the pounds keep adding up. The cases we always see on tv are from people that overeat, but w don't see the ones where people have helth issues. Often obesity is not the cause of a helthproblem, but a symptom. I am overweight and I don't eat a lot. sure I eat junkfood here and there, but who doesn't? My husband says I eat like a bird, and I should be skinny as a rail. I have issues with my htyroid and that is a very common problem and I don't think a lot of people realize they might have issues with that. When someone sees an extremely skinny person, they might say; look how skinny this person is, they must be sick. But when someone sees a very big person, they say; look at that whale, they must eat all day. Now that I'm done ranting lol. I don't hink people like that can be forced to go into some kind of hospital and be forced to put on a diet. What I do think, is that it is the family members responsibity to seek medical help for the person, if they can't take care of themselves anymore. If it is due to overeating, then nobody can stop them, because legally they can't tell a person not to eat. "Could they not be forced to live in some form of medical rehab center where there food intake is controlled. they must exercise and do all that is medically (physical and mental) necessary to get them back to a healthy weight?" Who determines what a healthy weight is? This would be like a police state, where we have the "fat" police running around telling you, you eat too much. I don't think people would appreciate being forcefull commited to a hospital and forced to go on a diet. I'm sure my weight is considered unhealthy, but I go to work, plant my garden, go out and have fun and besides some minor health problems, feel fine. Should I be forced to be hospitalized and go on a diet? Where do we draw the line? Where is the weight limit? Once we let the law control how much we suppose to weigh and what we are supposed to eat, we can mind as well through old glory out of the window and hang up a communist flag. Smoking supposedly kills as well, so are we to hospitalize smokers and make them quit? Great post by the way, very thought provoking and interesting :)

I am overweight too , I am always on some kind of diet and I am still overweight , I do fine loose quite a bit then something goes wrong with one of my family and I stress eat , I hope and pray that I would never get myself like these people and when I put too much on a start to take it off again, I think the family's of these people who are grossly overweight should stop feeding them so much , I think this stems for giving our children sweets and food as rewards for being good , this is a wrong way of doing things and we should stop now xx

That is very hard to understand, I agree. I am overweight, by about 80 lbs. This is the first time it has really shown, and that is because I sit here at the computer too much. I keep asking my very skinny husband to stop me if I get too big to do things, and he says he will, but he also will go out and buy me huge burgers and things at night, when he gets home, because he is a social eater, and he finds large women to be attractive. Our government has so many freedoms built in that it would be hard to press the idea that they are killing themselves, although they are. The mentally ill are allowed not to get treatment, as long as they do not hurt anyone else or make an active attempt on their own lives. I think they would fall into that category. (by the way, that is why we have so many homeless, they are mentally ill, and unmedicated). Gastric bypass is not a sure cure, especially for people who are not compliant. There has to be a change of mind. I did not see that particular Dr. Phil, but I have seen others. He is good to get them some help and address the family dynamics of the illness. The woman who "spoils" her son is essentially keeping him a prisoner, so he will never have a chance to not love her. He cannot escape her. She is sick, herself. That poor daughter does not know any better, if it is what she has known all of her life. I work with a population of handicapped people. They all need exercise, but one person, who is diabetic, believes that all she has to do is avoid sugar. We cannot convince her about carbohydrates, or get her to take care of any of the current movement opportunities. She sill not walk, or go swimming. All of those things would help her with her blood sugar levels. Not eating breaded chicken sandwiches, and french fries on our out to eat night would be a good choice. She hates to have to have insulin, but will not give up those things that she likes. I would like to see insurance companies pay for physical trainers, or gym memberships and health education and preventative testing. It might help some people not get in such bad shape.

some people are foodaholics and its just as real as an addiction of any kind....they must be in a prgram with counsiling or it wont work out....they have to have help, some need medicines , ect....and thanks to the cut in programs and many without insurance, and also insurance that wont pay for their treatments , the problem goes on....this has to be treated as the lethal illness and addiction that it is......none wanrs to be huge and sick and die....but they need exspensive care.....there are underlying mental issues that cause all these eating disorders......

I say that Dr. Phil show also. I also can't understand how people can eat until they are so big they can't even move. My husbands brother is married to a woman who is over 300 lbs. She has health problems and also has diabetes. She is supposed to try to lose some weight to help with these health problems, but I haven't seen her lose any weight. She is only 35 years old and I think she is cutting lots off of her life by being this overweight. I have never asked but wondered why she doesn't have either the bypass surgery or something like that. Do they just stop caring when they reach a certain weight? I don't know what the answer is, but the obesity problem is definitely getting worse.

I have a hard time relating to this discussion, not because I haven't been over weight a time or two, but because I don't like the feeling of sluggishness when I'm only a few pounds overweight. But that not why I'm commenting. The point I'd like to make is this: if our health care system was more into preventative medicine instead of treating the disease perhaps these individuals could have gotten the mental help they so obviously needed BEFORE they became a burden not only to their family; but to the taxpayers as well.

i was 280 pounds when i got pregnant with my daughter at the age 18. i had lot of health problems after i had my daughter i kept gaining weight no matter what i did . exercise diet pills and watched what i was eating and still could not lose the weight. Then i started looking into the surgery cause i did not know what else to do well at the age of 23 i weighed 369 lbs i had my surgery july 19th 2006 and have lost 108 pounds.Some of us do not see this surgery as a quick fix. Cause believe me it is not. There is a lot you have to do before the surgery and afterwards. I can't believe people think it is a quick fix. Some people even think that the surgery is a easy way out and it is not that neither. So in my eyes sometimes it dont matter what you do to take the weight off it stays there and for some people surgery is the only option. My dad was 600 lbs and in his 40's he also had the surgery he has lost 200 plus some. but the surgery is not for everyone. People have to be willing to change alot of things. it is not always that persons fault for gainging weight there could be medical reason as why they gained weight. i know with me i was depressed alot so there was time i would eat everything and times i would starve myself so it all depends.

We can't force people to be healthy. In the same vein, how can anyone be allowed to lose so much weight that they look like skeletons and their body starts to shut down? Eating disorders are medical and psychological. But they aren't enough to get you committed to a mental hospital. Morbid obesity is a difficult disorder that is not easily treated. My older daughter is perhaps 75 pounds overweight and she eats very little, actually forgets to eat and has to be reminded. She has limited mobility due to other medical problems, so exercise isn't possible. But she does keep house and raise a young son. The people that enable their family members to weight three times their ideal weight are invested in being needed. The best thing they could do for those persons is to make them fix their own food if they want more than the suitable servings. I'm 75 pounds overweight myself and have lost weight many times, only to put it back on again. It is a constant struggle. I often wish the insurance company would pay for me to be put into a coma for a month or so until I've lost the weight. But that wouldn't work anyway, since I'd just slowly gain it back again. People are overweight for different reasons. There is no on solution that works for everyone. Still wish there were a magic pill, though.

LOL guess you missed my post "1000 pounds" I just asked the same type of question the other day. Worded a bit differently but the same question. I don't get it. I'm about 50 pounds overweight (love that thyroid problem). My hubby is considered obese and let me tell you something if he ever ended up unable to get out of bed because of his weight; I would not be giving in to him. He would get what I would feed him or go hungry. I can't lay in bed 24/7 and I have illnesses that I have no control over. The heck if I would let my hubby stay in bed due to something he does have control over.

I have to agree. There comes a time when you just have to draw a line. When the time comes that a person can't function normally without external assistance then something needs to be done. Being grossly overweight like that is harmful and dangerous to not only oneself but to those that are responsible for you. Anyone approaching 100 pounds or more overweight should be required to go for help. I do know that there are medical conditions that cause overweight but that can be controlled too. I personally would never want to be a burden to anybody else just because I can't stop eating.

I agree it's hard for me to imagine these people allowing themselves to gain this much weight. I can understand if they have a health condition that causes it but in the case on this show it looks like it is just pure laziness of not wanting to be active and eating WAY too much. I don't think gastric by pass should be an option for these people until they take the iniative to lose some of the weight themselves and change their eating and lifestyle habits. If these people ended up going in for surgery the surgery would fail and they would continue with the same lifestyle. I'm not sure what kind of clinics are out there for morbid obsesity but there should be some. They should be clinics just like the ones for anorexia and bullimia. I would consider morbid obesity to be a form of an eating disorder so maybe somehow they could have some clinics to help them.