Fast food is cheaper than good food.

It is also quicker to get.

We've become the Corn People (interesting read btw)

Lifestyles are pretty sedentary - and passive. How many channels are there? Myspace and Internet in general? (in the old days we would have to go OUT to find people to discuss this article with!)

Kids don't play outside as much anymore. Outdoors is now not safe.

People don't walk.

We are primed for obesity.

There is a difference between ceasing "fat talk" that has a primary focus on image, and ceasing to talk about obesity issues, which is about health.

People seem to be getting those two issues confused.

@dick dworkin

I don't think this soriety is trying to make obesity acceptable.

I think they are trying to remove the fixation on "size 4" as a standard of self worth.

As far as chubby girls with fit guys? See it the other way around too. But you just want to harp on fats chicks, right?

@Anne in NYC

So agree with you. The obsession can lead to even greater gain as the relationship with food becomes perverted from what it should be. Eliminating the source of the imbalance (media etc) can restore a more normal weight and thinking.

@Dick Dworkin

What is YOUR obcession with women and fat? You seem a little extreme. And every woman here who is calling for a cease fire on the "size 4" mentality is not "fat"

Or even a couple of pounds heavy.

A combination of lifestyle and genes - I have difficulty maintaining weight at times. But that is not the norm - most humans have very efficient nutrient extraction and storage systems. It is how we survived in the past. Not so much needed now.

So . . . as a slender woman . . . I say to you that the emphasis on thinner than healthy body size is disasterous for women. I beleive it ADDS to overall weight gain because eating changes from merely replenishing the body and enjoyment, to a sign of moral weakness or value.

However - even if I was 200+ pounds, I should still be able to make that comment.

Get off the fat chick schtick dick.

And I have dealt and worked with average or less than average looking men being very judgemental when it comes to women's bodies.

As far as "curvy" goes - that is one of those words that can get used in strange ways.

From what I can discern, what men mean when they say "curvy" is a woman with big boobs and bubble butt but no waist or thighs. You know, sort of like Laura Croft. And remember that Angelina Jolie was not considered "curvy" enough and had to have some of those "curves" digitally enhanced. And Jessica Simpson had butt inserts in her Daisy Dukes because she was not bubble butt enough for the role.

So that is the image women are stuck with? Even Jessica and Angelina are not "enough"!

@bigguns

Yeah - I've seen this. I hate to sound old but "when I was a kid", we did play outside and around the neighbourhood a lot. Walked to school for the most part, rode bikes etc.

Now I hear Oh, Its too far for them to walk, or You never know who is out there now.

Kids stay in and watch video, television or the Internet.

I think it does something to their brains - like wiring is not getting laid because they are not physically active. And I think it is reflected in the current obesity rates now, and will be in the future.

Yes - most men know enough to be polite.

However, what I was talking about was men in groups - it sometimes sounds like they are grading beef.

Perhaps that behaviour is more about impressing the other males than a real mindset?

What should women think if they look at men's magazines? (Maxim, Playboy, of that ilk)

There's a lot of variation in body types (talking healthy bodies) that should allow for all kinds of tastes. But the image of desirable female in those types of media is pretty narrow.

We all know that media images of women affect how women think of themselves.

Do we know if these same images have an effect on men? Does this narrow defining of "attractive" influence how men look at and think about the average woman?

Has the media redefined what men find attractive? This is not as stupid a question as it might seem. I know that individuals have individual tastes - I also know we ALL are influenced by what we perceived as valuable in our society.

If there is a very narrow definition of what is attractive in women, in our society, does this not influence individual tastes?

@Allie

This body image thing usually devolves into "all women are fat and fat women are disgusting."

Healthy body image be damned - in the article or in reality. Some posters just want to talk about how useless they think women are.

And if you agree that there is a body image problem based on a narrow and pretty unrealistic body type promoted in the media - then you must be a fat chick too.

I believe that study is already out. They found that women who practiced any sort of birth control were 30% more likely to get prostate cancer.

Oh yeah, they also found that women practicing BC would also have more chance to be bombed by a terrorist in Oklahoma than to get married.

I think the study was funded by the group that is advocating that women have lots of children while young and then do that pesky education and career thingy later!

(sarcasm_mode_off)