Otter, I don't find you confrontational at all! Furthermore, I find you 100% correct. Genetics don't decide wholly whether a person will be obese or not, but they most certainly do determine whether or not a person will struggle with weight gain or loss throughout their life.
Obesity has climbed in such epidemic proportions during the last 20 years in our American population that the condition is now qualified as a disease by the Center for Disease Control. Why? Because of the tragic health consequences: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type-2 diabetes, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, gout, osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, asthma, some types of cancer (endometrial, breast, prostate, colon), complications in pregnancy (gestational diabetes, hypertension and pre-eclampsia, as well as operative delivery complications), poor female reproductive health (menstrual irregularities, infertility, irregular ovulation), bladder control problems, and on and on and on. All of these conditions, while they certain occur in the population on their own, have been identified as the direct result of obesity and are increasing at a frightening rate among Americans, especially...and in direct proportion to the increase in obesity.
I completely agree with you when you said "inside every fat person there is a thin person struggling to get out." Our society has done everything in its marketing power to demand that. We are raised on the belief that skinny is beautiful...supported by thousands of daily visuals of near emaciated models with shiny muscles. Heck, tons of research performed among HR folk over the years have shown that obese people are even perceived in our society as being lazy and dismotivated -- and that is absolutely the most insidious and downright STUPID thing I can imagine.
No one, down deep, truly wants to be obese. Yet, reversing obesity is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult tasks on the planet, as well as one of the most important. We humans seek the quick fix, hence the multi-billion dollar market of dieting fads that range widely in effectiveness and additional health consequences. Precious few work, and those that do are more likely the result of a managed nutrition plan coupled with exercise.
In my perfect world, I would have people focus NOT on losing weight, but upon creating a healthier lifestyle, through which weight loss would ultimately come. Beyond pulling up to a dinner table with healthier menus of more fruits, vegetables and grains than fried meats and fat-laden sauces, I want people to recognize that we are a very sedentary society spent behind a desk for the most part and that regular exercise (which in one generation back was a requirement in living our lives) is critical to the health of our bodies.
"If weight is genetic, why is the percentage of fat/obese increasing every year?" The ability to become obese is genetically-determined. The reason why obesity is increasing is two-fold (oversimplified, but true):
1. What we eat (fast food and highly imbalanced diets); and
2. How little, if any, we exercise.
And there is a third critical element to the dilema. Getting healthy, as well as achieving a LASTING weight loss, requires a lifestyle change. And that ain't easy, nor is it remotely pleasant to argue with yourself constantly. As the saying goes, "Old habits die hard." Indeed. And that is why most people choose to ignore subtle symptoms and keep plugging away in their difficult, complicated and fast-paced, busy lives until a crisis occurs (heart attack, stroke, etc.). At that point, faced with the undeniable fact of mortality, people are finally motivated to change.
Good heavens, forgive the verbosity. And may I also add that these are my personal opinions only and certainly not of this board, that so generously has allowed me the opportunity to share same.
