...and it was one of the Seven Deadly (or Cardinal) Sins. You don't hear the word used much anymore, as everyone's falling all over themselves making excuses for fat people. But the only way fat gets on the human body is by entering through the mouth. Excessive eating is called gluttony and it makes you fat. Maybe if we started calling it by this unattractive name with the biblical and historical baggage it carries, people would stop making so many excuses and push away from the table a little earlier in the meal.

We've made stuffing our pie holes an international sport.

...and the Americans are winning every event. Doesn't it just make you swell up with pride?

Great.

I have a relative who is raising his sister's kids and to help him out one day I offered to do his grocery shopping for him. The stuff on his list was CHEAP horrible food with low nutritional value, high sugar and fat content. So although the kids are not gluttons stuffing their faces all day long the little bit of food they do eat makes them fat. That day I contributed to the family's food budget but and bought them some more healthful foods but that was only one day. My point is that while you're correct that fat enters the body through the mouth. You don't have to be a glutton to be fat. I probably eat the same amount or more than they do and I weigh less. Of course I weigh less because my food has more nutritional value which in turn means that I'm healthier and more active. My cousin buys cheap food and he wonders why he's tired all the time. He thinks raising kids is making him tired . I tried to tell him why I didn't buy that crap (of course I didn't call it crap to his face) but he insisted that he has to make food money for one person feed four people and that's the only way. I'd rather he get food stamps to feed those kids than feed them crap but he doesn't think it's worth the effort and he'll only have them for one more year. In the mean time the poor (literally and figuratively) kids are getting fat and learning bad eating habits through no fault of their own.

I don't wish for the government to get involved with what people eat but like we saw with smoking protecting the kids is sometimes necessary. e.g the smoking laws that says one cannot smoke in their own car. Now at first this law sounds INSANE and too much 'big brother' BUT if there are children in this car then the law sounds reasonable under the 'protect the innocent' viewpoint.

Protecting and helping kids when the main people doing the harm are their parents is something worthwhile but in a free society often difficult. Sadly kids are stuck with their parents.

Using the bible to demonize people with weight issues is a slippery slope. What other behavior demonized in a literary work written by people who stoned to death prostitues, adulterers and homosexuals do you want to codify into law. It is amazing to me how people justify their bigotry.

Who gives a fuck what some old book like the bible says? On this we agree but why are you using BS hype also. The vast majority here are NOT demonizing behaviors but instead taking about legit issues like insurance premiums.

For all other lines of insurance if one mitigates risk they pay lower premiums. e.g. put in smoke alarms into your house, install a fire resistant roof, don't get speeding tickets, drive a car with a better safety rating etc...

Why should health insurance premiums be based on a similar time tested model?

No one ones to stone to death fat people but just ensure IF they cost the system more they pay more.

Did you not read the gluttony and bible thumping bullshit, you batshit crazy bigot. And I guess you think gay people who contract AIDS should be penalized for being fornicators.

You nazi republican assholes make me sick.

What the fuck is wrong with you. I'm NOT a member of the fucking GOP. I'm agnostic and like I said the bible (religion) is for morons.

I'm 100% for gay rights and since I'm in CA I gave to the stop prop 8 campaign and went out to try to help prevent same-sex-marriage from being illegal. Sadly we lost but I hope we win in Maine.

With regards to gay people who contact AIDS this is NOT about them being gay but about poor behaviors and habits and people should be penalized for being dumbasses. i.e. having unprotected sex with multiple partners regardless of ones sexual orientation is being a dumbass. Again, that is NOT some nutcase religion but about being smart enough to practice safe sex.

So stop being a loony and grow up.

...and it was one of the Seven Deadly (or Cardinal) Sins.

And so is pride, but you probably forgot that one

Gluttony, as defined as one of the seven deadlies means to over indulge in anything to the point of waste. Thomas Aquanis considered gluttony to be over anticipation of meals and the constant ingesting of delicacies and expensive food.

Excessive eating is not, always, gluttony. I cycle. I routinely eat 1400-2000 calories after a long ride. I hike, a lot, 10+ miles up and down mountains. I routinely eat 400-500 calories an hour. Given the recommended caloric intake for a person of my size and age, that is massively over eating. Am I a glutton? I don't think so.

Your generalization is scientifically unfounded. Level of food intake does not, necessarily, lead to a person becoming overweight, ideal weight or underweight. It's just not that simple.Even if your interpretation were correct, things have changed in the several thousand years since the seven deadlies where foisted on an unsuspecting population by the church as another way to control them. Shaming people does not help their self-esteem. People with poor self-esteem tend to eat more, rather than less. You might want to think about that.

Umm people have unprotected sex with multiple partners and who have AIDS are being punished plenty for their choices (they have AIDS - which is a horrible condition to be in). People who smoke cigarrettes will more than likely get cancer, and fat people also suffer in a similar context because they have to live with being fat which also sucks.I am just a little overweight and find it extremely uncomfortable in many ways. I can't imagine how much it must suck to be really obese. The last thing someone needs who is suffering is ridicule. But acknowledging gluttony as a sin is pretty reasonable and an interesting concept to explore in that so many churches openly condone it.

This comment says it all; Level of food intake does not, necessarily, lead to a person becoming overweight

Yes, that statement is true because the word 'necessarily' is in there. Note that every example you give would change if 'necessarily' was added. i.e. one can unprotected sex with multiple partners who even have AIDS and not 'necessarily' get AID. One can smoke 4 packs a day for 40 years and not necessarily get cancer etc...

To me the issue here is not ridcule of the obese but whether premiums can be based on risk factors and if being obese is a factor.

I don't see where eating cheap means eating crap. The processed foods I see in the store are often more expensive than the fresh ones. It depends. But there are fresh vegetables that aren't expensive, starting with carrots and working up. Bananas are a cheap fruit that is enormously healthful. Whole grain bread costs more, but if you wad up a loaf of Wonder Bread and a loaf of Wheat Berry, you'll find you're getting twice as much content in the more expensive loaf. Potato chips are a whole lot more expensive than potatoes you boil or bake. I'm not going to write a whole recipe for healthy living here, but I think the idea that inexpensive food -- as long as you're willing to do some cooking and not just open cans and bags -- does not have to be crap...is crap.

Oops, got my double negative wrong in that last sentence. You get the idea.