At the beginning of this week I stumbled across an article in Closer magazine online which carries the heading Obesity should be Treated Like Cancer. The statement itself had me reeling, and even reading the entire article from beginning to end didn't satisfy my understanding of why the article carries such an emotive title.
Don't get me wrong, I am quite aware that obesity and food addictions are a problem, but comparing it to cancer in my mind is simply not on. Obesity is a condition of lifestyle and choice, whereas cancer most certainly is not; there is no comparison.
The author of this article Jocelyn Cook goes on to quote the opinions of some people struggling with obesity. Barry Austin aged 43 became the proud owner of the title "Britain's Fattest Man" back in 2009 weighing in at a massive 65 stone and chose to consume a staggering nine curries on any given night and wash them down with an astounding forty pints of beer.
It's probably not going to be much of a surprise when I say that Mr Austin - and many others like him who have this terrible 'food addiction' - are sitting at home right now and allowing the state to quite literally feed them.
Living on disability allowance it is Barry himself who suggests that the NHS should be giving the morbidly obese of this country the same level of care that cancer suffers have. Unfortunately I am one of many people who will choose to disagree.
Barry Austin consumes up to 30,000 calories per day. The UK's fattest couple have cost the hard working tax payer an astonishing £650,000 combined and still they choose not to blame themselves, or indeed choose to help themselves into better health; this is their choice
I agree that yes, some people do need help and on some level obesity can be classed as a result of food addiction and ultimately a psychological problem, but as with any addiction, you've got to want to change the way you think about food and stop feeding your face with high calorie foods and carbonated drinks that are full of nothing but sugar.
One quote from Barry Austin that has done nothing but irk me reads: "It is not something these people choose to do," (over eat) "It's unfair to deny people help. Morbidly obese people should have carers to help them".
The fact of the matter here is that Mr Austin, and other 'sufferers' in the article, seem to think that sitting there and having carers wait on them hand and foot on a daily basis is the answer to their problems, but why wouldn't they; the state is paying for the obese to do it, it's paying for every single calorie that these so called food addicts consume.
If these people really want help, why don't they begin by helping themselves? Why not have a few meals less per day and switch to spending tax payers money on fruit and vegetables instead of takeaways and cakes!