Fat Politics

We have just had an interesting year in fatness. Mayor Bloomberg decided New Yorkers were too fat and too stupid to be allowed to purchase large sodas, the American Heart Association noted that obesity-related health-care costs could hit $957 billion by 2030 (that’s 18 percent of projected national health expenditures), and another report suggested that half of American adults will be obese in less than 20 years if we continue along the current trend.

In other words, it seems safe to say that we have a little bit of a weight problem. But one group of progressives rejects that idea the way most of us reject geocentricism. The fat-acceptance movement, a little-known fruit of the Sixties social upheaval, will probably gain more clout as the number of fat people grows. So its odd takes on individuals’ rights and basic science merit attention.

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/336987/fat-politics-betsy-woodruff