“Oh, I have been exercising, since the day I was born!” remarked somebody. There was irritation and anger in the statement. It made me turn back to look at her. She was the ever smiling 26-28 year old, smart looking but slightly plump lady we saw almost daily at the Health Spa.

It made me think about her.

Life must not be easy for people who are obese. They are forever on diets and eternally in gyms and must have tried all the diets and exercise plans under the sun. I heard someone lament about the larger sizes not available at the major brand outlets. The amount of stress, agony, and depression all this might be leading them to?

Apart from struggling with their own physical and mental battles, they must be facing tough times from others as well. Because people can be really cruel at times with their snide remarks and weird stares.

The result of an online survey conducted by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale showed that approximately 50% of obese individuals expressed that they would rather give up a year of their life rather than being fat. It is surprising, by the sheer number of people who reported they would be willing to make major sacrifices to avoid being obese. It drives home the message that weight bias is powerful and pervasive.

Next time when we are walking down the street or sitting at a table waiting for our meal and we see a obese person, before judging them, stop and think about how they must be feeling about themselves and what impact our giggles and gossip would have on them.

Compassion is the word! Right?