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Comment by brianwawok | Hacker News Reader

What? It is a choice how much you eat.

You might be bedbound and not in control of your own food. But, the staff could just give you less food.

There is no medical condition that will cause someone in a locked room given a calorie restricted diet to gain weight. That is against the laws of physics.

It's fine to say "losing weight is very very very hard". But it's incorrect to say "being overweight is not a choice".

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Why do you keep attacking that strawman? The analogy is to ban sugar rich foods or they're marketing to children or tax it. Which is a pretty good idea IMHO...

Is taxing sugar rich foods a good idea? Because I lived around Chicago when it happened. Didn't work so well, and ended up as basically a "poor people regressive tax".

All consumption taxes are regressive, by definition. That doesn't necessarily mean it didn't do what it was intended to. I'm curious how (if?) the consumption patterns changed.

https://publichealth.uic.edu/news-stories/research-reveals-n...

it probabbly "works".

Also is enough to get someone kicked out of office, as the public loves sugar.

It's a choice in the same way having anxiety or depression is a choice. That is, it's treatable and is possible to overcome it, but it's a very difficult path. I think it's unfair to compare it to smoking though. There are genetic factors with obesity and mental health issues.

Except, many poor people use smoking as a treatment for mental health issues. It's a bit of a "poor mans prozac".. (Which isn't entirely true, because at the current cost, I think it cost more than actual prozac).

By your same logic, a broken leg doesn't stop you from jumping. It just makes it "very very very hard." It's incorrect to say jumping on your broken leg is not a choice. But you might find your health outcomes far worse if you jump with it vs. rest.

But by your logic, smoking either isn't addictive or there is no such thing as addiction. If obese people are strongly compelled to eat, I'm pretty sure we've discovered that smokers are comparably strongly compelled to smoke.

Sorry, I don't think this makes any sense.

You (unless you are bedbound) choose what goes in your mouth. You, thus, have control of your own weight.

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