Yes, it is within the realm of human power for every individual to not be obese.
But the fact of the matter is... a huge chunk of people don't succeed. 42% of American adults are obese. "Eat better and exercise" has not resolved the issue.
I spent a good chunk of my adult life eating well, doing cardio, lifting weights and loving it. Then I got busy with life and stopped. And it has been incredibly difficult to get back to that and gets harder as I get older. I don't think I'm some paragon of willpower - if so, I wouldn't have fallen off the wagon. But I think it would also be silly to think that if someone who has a proven track record of maintaining that for years can struggle with maintaining it for a lifetime, there's probably a lot of people who have never even had that much success who are going to have even worse of a time.
Are we going to moralize over bp meds and statins too? If people can't adapt, fuck 'em, let 'em die young?
But the fact of the matter is... a huge chunk of people don't succeed. 42% of American adults are obese. "Eat better and exercise" has not resolved the issue.
I spent a good chunk of my adult life eating well, doing cardio, lifting weights and loving it. Then I got busy with life and stopped. And it has been incredibly difficult to get back to that and gets harder as I get older. I don't think I'm some paragon of willpower - if so, I wouldn't have fallen off the wagon. But I think it would also be silly to think that if someone who has a proven track record of maintaining that for years can struggle with maintaining it for a lifetime, there's probably a lot of people who have never even had that much success who are going to have even worse of a time.
Are we going to moralize over bp meds and statins too? If people can't adapt, fuck 'em, let 'em die young?