To think that unless caused by an underlying health condition, obesity..

[GraysAnalogy]

should not be classed as a disability?

Recent story about a childminder being sacked as he was too overweight to do his job properly. He took this to court for unfair dismissal and it is being argued that his obesity could be classed as a disability.

There has been no ruling yet.

In your opinion, should it?

Mitchy, I laughed out loud!

We are all addicted to food, let's face it.

Joanne, current research seems to show that the healthiest BMI to have is around 26.

Given that information, and your quest to save the NHS money, I assume you'll be trying to put on weight now? It's a simple matter of eat more, move less after all.

...or is it not that simple?

Food or food argy?

it's true isn't it, an overweight (not obese eg 29+, but also not 'healthy' eg: 18-24.9) bmi has the lowest mortality

but who wants to live much longer than they have to anyway?

I've just checked my BMI and it states I'm obese. I don't look obese, I look overweight but clearly I'm wrong.

puts biscuits away

I do think people should take personal responsibility, have never been obese but have been overweight in the past thanks to the marvels of modern(ish) medicine (people with bipolar and schizophrenia are at a greater risk of obesity than the average person, probably because of the drugs used to treat them - theoretically you are still in charge of what goes in to your mouth but are you as responsible for your podge as someone who isn't taking such awful heavy duty, fattening and brain and body dulling meds?) but alongside that, or possibly above it, there must be some social responsibility too - some people are born into environments that set them up for obesity. I think it's unjust to hold everyone to the same standard until we address these inequalities.

I take bi-polar meds and have done since I was seventeen, at the time I started gaining weight. I suppose I could blame those but i know it's because I eat more than I should, probably more down to the copious amounts of juice I drink.

I was disagnosed with arthritis which is down to my size probably as I'm young, but if this stopped me doing my job I sure as hell wouldn't claim unfair dismissal on the grounds of my obesity being disabling. And is partly why ive took steps to losing weight. Which hasn't been overly successful yet but I'm getting there. Now I know my BMI is classed as obese though I've had a cry and it's given me a great big kick up the jacksy.

So would you count your own medical conditions, then? Is your obesity a disability in your world?

No, like ive said I my weight is down to my eating habits.

And ive already said the medical conditions I mean when I say that, are those that medical professionals have deemed directly linked to the onset of obesity.

But I have also said there is no real way of telling if someone's condition has caused anything, they could have become obese anyway so I'm suggesting that courts would either have to chose with classing all obesity as a disability or not at all.

between that should say

Why even mention the medical condition thing, then?

sorry to hear you had a cry Grays but sounds like it has galvanised you a bit!

courts won't rule that obesity is automatically disabling, enabling everyone who is obese to acquire disabled status, it will be just like bipolar - case by case, some people are so severely impaired in various ways they can't lead a normal life, others are not

some of the meds used to treat bipolar (like anticonvulsants for epilepsy or antipsychotics for schizophrenia, shockingly I don't think we have an actual med designed especially for bipolar yet) definitely do cause weight gain, in some people much more severely than others. I'd always been very very lean, then I sort of morphed fairly instantly to being overweight, in less than a year. I came out of hospital 3 dress sizes bigger. I don't think it is just an improved appetite, obviously these drugs tend to be very sedating too and slow you down so you can barely walk at a normal pace. Luckily I was too drugged to give much of a fuck for a while and of course for a long time the focus is on getting your life back and keeping your mood level and so on.

I will never take a drug like olanzapine or any known to cause weight gain ever again though. If you are struggling to lose weight despite a reasonable calorie deficit (whether through restriction or exercise or both) you could look into weight neutral meds?

Sorry enpoid I wasn't aware I couldn't express how I felt about something and what I believe to be right but unfortunately not doable.

You've questioned me quite obnoxiously throughout this thread, you evidently have an axe to grind instead of taking part in discussion like everyone else seems to have managed. I won't be answering any more questions as it seems you just want an argument.

Thanks mitchy it was just a silly little shocked moment really, DP thought something major had happened until I pointed - between sobs - at the BMI result on the laptop...

If I put my mind to it Im sure I can shift it, slowly but it's doable.

Of course you're allowed to express how you feel So am I

Perhaps you'd like to do that then without making me feel a bit erm... attacked (terribly dramatic I know but at this moment in time I can't think of another word.)

Anyhow, can someone explain the difference between the benefits idea of disabiliry and the medically accepted term? I think someone mentioned upthread they're different?

Sorry for making you feel attacked Grays.

it's a lot work and day by day nothing really seems to change until suddenly it's all different and before you know it everyone is nagging you to put some back on

It's probably me being soft epnoid or reading your posts in a different tone than they're meant.

How I yearn for the days when my mum used to say 'you'd fall down a drain girl if it weren't for that big head'

Possibly the second one? I was going for mildly sarky and am sorry it came across attacky.

all I know is that having bipolar doesn't automatically qualify you for DLA, it's the extent to which it gets between you and a Normal Life - so for example someone who spends much of their bipolar life being too depressed to cope with getting washed, feeding themselves, dealing with their affairs and then has bouts of mania which make them aggressive to randoms in the street will be much more disabled than someone who can still take basic care of their needs and isn't so volatile despite their episodes

it must be the same for the obese, it must depend a bit on body composition? you can be obese and have a healthy amount of body fat if your lean mass is sufficiently great, and be pretty fit and active - but you must know this?

Yeah I'm obese (fuck that feels weird) but don't look it and I can cope with being physically active so that itself shows me that a one size fits all policy wouldn't work.

Same as bi-polar like you said

Interesting actually when I think about the two, Thankyou.

Mildly sarky it is then enpoid