Let's move this discussion back where it was, at the top of the show which was about the cost and burdens to society, we talked about the fact except its movement. And people say at what point does your right to be fat impinge on my airline seat, should a person who is obese pay for two airplane tickets. You know, ambulances, hospital beds, there are a lot of real issues about cost and burdens to society. Where do we stand on that?
-If you require to have something, you should pay for to have something. If it is refused to be sold to you, that is discrimination. Right now, we're giving special treatment and should selling that second seat at discounted rate. No one has ever sold me a seat at discounted rate, because I don't take up the entire seat. Yet we are selling someone who’s requiring two seats, that second seat is at discounted rate. In the state of Michigan, they are already looking for special treatment for the obese. Employers, we know from the Conference Spot that cost to employers when employer obese is 45 billion, yet the obese are seeking special treatment and saying that is discriminatory to not hire an obese high cost employee work base. So I am not sure that I am buying into discrimination for obesity, I am looking at the numbers and the discrimination may be on the few of us, who are staying healthy eating properly and subsidizing an obese culture. According to Reuters,-Meme Roth just said that thin people are discriminated at that, that's amazing.
-They certainly, they certainly are. According to Reuters, according to Reuters recently only 8% of us eat right, exercise regularly, don't smoke and don't drink to excess. So 8% of us are offsetting the lifestyle of 92% of us and that group, whether they are skinny or whatever you wanna describe them, that group who are making that attempt are subsidizing a very unhealthy culture, that is a very expensive culture to pay for.
-Fat people are absolutely discriminated against. I know this, because you know, the type of modeling I do, 'cause if it wasn't, then I would be doing all the type of modeling, what I do, I be all over the runways, every single runway like everyone else.
-That's a business case for who they do or don't pick, and right now you are the top paid plus-size model there is.
-Yes, I am very lucky for that. Because I honestly believe there is a lot of change. I believe…-But it's…you are part of a product when you are model, you are part of a product to sell them something, so there is a business case deciding what is or isn't to look they want and thank goodness they are not in the waif look right now. Thank goodness that's hopefully behind us.（they are, no), but you, you also don't want to compare, I think, the catwalk and haute couture to maybe what you see in celebrities, you've got people like, I don't know, a lot of, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez. So you have a lot of celebrities who certainly wouldn't be described as under weight or malnourished who are graces in the covers of many magazines.
-Right, but those celebrities they wear the sample sizes as those models wear on the runways, they obviously are either very similar sizes or exactly the same size rarely there is exception made where they’ll actually make you a dress. That is very rare. I come from a point where I believe that you were born, you know, genetic, genetic plays huge point and how and what size you are. And I believe you have a body-set point from the moment that you were born and yes, give or take 10 or 20 pounds, but you can't discriminate against women who are born with this. It is the same thing for me as weightisim-Believe I will be as fat as everybody else in my family.
-Yes, I am sure you work very hard to maintain your weight.
-No, I always do is to eat right and exercise everyday and I assure you that the family members I have if they would eat similarly to me, there will be a healthier weight. And so you come at it from a modeling, I come at it from growing up with generations of obesity, so we probably don't have the same view, but we've seen heartache on both sides.
-There is, you know, by your standards, obese people in my family. I find that you know I hate puberty. I was a thin child, and I hate puberty all of a sudden I’m a size 14. I formed anorexia and you know what, I was a double zero and then you know what, still had anorexia when my body was built against me and said you know what, I am going to a size 6, still at the gym for 16 hours on the weekends.
-I completely agree with you, that starving yourself and organ failure is no more glamorous than eating yourself and organ failure. I am so with you on that.
-You are not as fat in your family. I’ve heard you said that before. -My father 300 pounds, my mother in the 80s was 225 pounds and I assure you back then that was considered very large. My grandmother is over 300 pounds in a 24-hour-care-facility. My aunts and uncles are all overweight; my father used to spring traps with meand now can barely walk from one into the Wal-Mart to the other. My mother has Type 2 diabetes; my grandmother, it is tragic, she went from the point of being voluptuous, chubby, fat, obese to more believed obese to being a woman who stares out of the window at a hummingbird feeder who a few years ago decided there was too much effort to get out of the bed to go to bathroom. So I do know obesity takes people and I assure you the people in my family aren't just a little overweight, they are dangerously tragically overweight.
-Yes, but I also know what thin takes you. And I think that…-I agree with you, I agree with you. -I was size 6, and I was working out 16 hours a day, I am naturally a size 12 that is where I am healthy. You know.
-You are in healthier way 'cause you are not even overweight.
-You are right, I am. But I have (she is), yes, and I have a friend who can run circles around me all over the stage run circles, she runs constantly and she is a size 18,she eats even probably better than I do, and she is an 18.
-I am clearly too nice to be moderator, but let me just butt in for a second. Let me ask the question, should we have a fat tax, there are states including this state of New York, it’s looking into putting a third tax on sugary sodas because of a lot a lot epidemiologists just have noticed the sugary sodas are correlated with childhood obesity. We have a cigarette tax why not have a sugary sodas tax?
-It's a great idea, it’s penny per ounce tax, um, I hope all of us would agree that sugar sweet soft drinks aren't nutritionally valuable that you are big with this, where we might no agree on do we tax or not. I think we should tax it because we can earmark the money for obesity related. Let’s, if we're gonna subsidize vegetable or subsidize something other than corn, let's make a recreational facilities available to everybody and safe and let's just maybe use some of that money for something good, but it's we can raise billions if we just put a penny per ounce tax on sugar sweet beverages.
-Kimmy, let me bring you into this, I mean, we’ve talked a lot about how dieting yourself skinny is unhealthy, yo-yo dieting is unhealthy, you’ve done obviously both, how did you break that cycle?
-I tried one more time. Yo-yo dieting is somebody gearing out getting ready, really trying, really wanting to feel better. I meant I didn't have a lap for my children to sit on, I couldn't put on my own shoes, crossing my legs was something I just dreamed about doing. These little things taking care of myself, I lost the ability to do and so this was something that I really wanted, you know while I was 200, while I was going up and hitting 300, up to 350 pounds, I still wanted to be healthy weight inter-run with my children. It didn't have anything to do with my happiness, or my beauty but I really, I tried one more time, and that's what yo-yo dieting is, you try, you don't get it, you try again.
-Maryann, let me bring you back in, a lot of people talk about obesity is being an epidemic in this country, one in three people are obese. It’s one thing for an adult to say I am happy and I accept myself is fat, but for children, let me read you some statistic, one study found that approximately 80% of the children who are overweight between the ages of 10 and 15 will be overweight at the age of 25. So the argument being that we should try to stop obesity in children.
-Well, it sounds like such an easy thing to do, and I am so totally in favor of things like making sure healthful foods are available, you know, it at an affordable prices for people in all sorts of living areas, I mean if you’ve ever tried to buy a fresh vegetable on the wrong side of the tracks, that’s a little difficult. I’m hugely in favor of safe places to playing encouraging activity, I think, none of that needs to be done within the framework of you know, oh you’re fat, so obviously, you don't have these healthy habits, I think that that sort of solution, I think if we were really honestly concerned about the health of children, concerned about the health of adults in America, we will be focusing on these healthy habits instead of making it a war on obesity. It would be, let's have a national action for healthful living. Let's have a national action for changing people's mind's about brussel sprouts because they are awesome. |