Regina Benjamin Surgeon-General...a fat lady?

[Anonymous]

hopefully she'll tackle her own weight problems as an example...the generation after ours is the first generation that is expected to have a SHORTER life span than their parents because of obesity. i don't think the issue is being taken seriously enough.

[Anonymous]

I honestly can't believe that this is posted in the "political" forum. This is the shallowest discussion I've ever seen on DCUM. Her credentials are iron-clad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/health/policy/14surgeon.html?scp=7&sq=DR.%20REGINA%20BENJAMIN&st=Search

MacArthur Genius grant, a life dedicated to serving the underserved, the president of the Alabama Medical Association . ..

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP and I in NO WAY was posting her weight issues as a vanity problem. I'm talking about one of the biggest HEALTH risks facing this country. It has nothing to do with being shallow, it has to do with health. I don't care what anyone looks like, but if you're going to be running the country's public health programs I want you to be of sound health and to be a good role model.

[Anonymous]

I think your use of the word "fat" was your first mistake and what leads me to believe that this entire posting is shallow.

[Anonymous]

That's only if you associate the word "fat" with how someone looks and not a state of health. sure, i used it to make the title get more attention...but, in this case I assure you, I wasn't complaining about how her a$$ looks in a pair of jeans. I'm talking about hearth disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers....and on and on...

[Anonymous]

To top it all off, her father was obese too and died of diabetes. It's hard to believe she's not working harder to control her weight -

[Anonymous]

Maybe she does work very hard to control her weight, but has back, knee, or other problems that make aerobic exercise difficult. And once you get past 35, getting weight off becomes exceedingly difficult without a tremendous amount of cardio.

People are being hugely judgmental without a lot of background information. I'd rather have a plump surgeon general who knows what it's like to struggle with those issues and has a solid background in public health education and outreach than some sanctimonious Ivy League pontificating skinny minnie.

[Anonymous]

Not exactly on topic, but exercise is only about 15% of the battle. It takes running 6 miles to burn off a piece a cheesecake and walking a mile just to burn off an apple. I'm not looking for an Oprah style support group for a Surgeon General that's just my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe she does work very hard to control her weight, but has back, knee, or other problems that make aerobic exercise difficult. And once you get past 35, getting weight off becomes exceedingly difficult without a tremendous amount of cardio.

People are being hugely judgmental without a lot of background information. I'd rather have a plump surgeon general who knows what it's like to struggle with those issues and has a solid background in public health education and outreach than some sanctimonious Ivy League pontificating skinny minnie.

She's not plump. She's obese.

[Anonymous]

It just seems a weird choice...her qualifications are fine, but it is a little ironic to have a public health official who isn't following the key rules for good health herself.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who would consider the photo posted to be that of an obese person is nuts! Obesity is based on weight and I think in this case that would be extremely hard to determine just based on this one photo. Even more surprisingly, maybe this choice was based on the Dr.s' qualifications, not her looks or her weight. Novel idea, I realize, but it is a possibility. What would be even more novel would the overcoming of our prejudice against overweight people or even our redefinition of what overweight really is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe she does work very hard to control her weight, but has back, knee, or other problems that make aerobic exercise difficult. And once you get past 35, getting weight off becomes exceedingly difficult without a tremendous amount of cardio.

People are being hugely judgmental without a lot of background information. I'd rather have a plump surgeon general who knows what it's like to struggle with those issues and has a solid background in public health education and outreach than some sanctimonious Ivy League pontificating skinny minnie.

She's not plump. She's obese.

And again...this isn't about being 'skinny' which if taken too far is also unhealthy! I think maybe that's one of the biggest challenges in public health to begin with...convincing people that being overweight or obese has nothing to do with self-esteem or how good or bad you look. Its about the health problems associated with being 'fat', especially when we're talking about trying to bring down the health care costs in this country. People just refuse to admit that they're putting their lives at risk when they carry so many extra pounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who would consider the photo posted to be that of an obese person is nuts! Obesity is based on weight and I think in this case that would be extremely hard to determine just based on this one photo. Even more surprisingly, maybe this choice was based on the Dr.s' qualifications, not her looks or her weight. Novel idea, I realize, but it is a possibility. What would be even more novel would the overcoming of our prejudice against overweight people or even our redefinition of what overweight really is.

Do you know where the official definition of being overweight comes from??? It comes from decades of studies showing that people having x amount of body fat (associated by a person's BMI) puts them at risk for disease. Overweight starts at a BMI of 26, because this is when disease associated with too much body fat starts to appear in the population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It just seems a weird choice...her qualifications are fine, but it is a little ironic to have a public health official who isn't following the key rules for good health herself.

Frankly, unless you live with her on a daily basis or are her personal physician, how in the world would you have any idea what health rules she follows? Do you know what she eats everyday? Do you know if she excersizes? Do you have personal knowledge of her heart condition, her blood pressure, whether or not she is diabetic, whether or not she has thyroid issues? For that matter, what are the key rules for good health in your opinion? Are you a physician? No jabs here, just innocent curiousity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who would consider the photo posted to be that of an obese person is nuts! Obesity is based on weight and I think in this case that would be extremely hard to determine just based on this one photo. Even more surprisingly, maybe this choice was based on the Dr.s' qualifications, not her looks or her weight. Novel idea, I realize, but it is a possibility. What would be even more novel would the overcoming of our prejudice against overweight people or even our redefinition of what overweight really is.

Do you know where the official definition of being overweight comes from??? It comes from decades of studies showing that people having x amount of body fat (associated by a person's BMI) puts them at risk for disease. Overweight starts at a BMI of 26, because this is when disease associated with too much body fat starts to appear in the population.

And you can tell her BMI index from a photo? What about her qualifications for the job? You simply ignored that argument altogether.