Would you date someone who was overweight?

No.

I'm afraid the health of myself and others close to me is quite important , in my household we make an effort to eat healthy meals and generally if one of my siblings is getting fat , we aren't afraid to tell each other .

There are also aesthetic implications that come with being overweight which I struggle to overlook.

Someone can be overweight but in good health. The dangers of being overweight, particularly slightly overweight, are exaggerated, I feel.

The OP does not state how much over-weight the hypothetical person is, but I think it's safe to assume he isn't talking about someone who's obese.

Particularly if by "overweight" we're just using BMI, which places some Rugby players in the overweight category.

Reply 41

River85

17

Original post by Morrisseya

Good thing the OP mentioned being medically overweight, then :wink:

Even slightly "medically overweight" is not particularly dangerous to health, esepcially if a person is still reasonably active and has a fairly active lifestyle.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 42

Morrisseya

OP

10

Original post by River85

Even slightly "medically overweight" is not particularly dangerous to health, esepcially if a person is still reasonably active and has a fairly active lifestyle.

Why do you say "even"?

I agree that you can be reasonably active etc. and medically overweight in terms of having too much muscle. (As stated, I have a female friend like that). However, if someone has too much fat, then that does increase the risk of health problems. I don't want to take this thread too off topic as it's mainly about dating and I think people know what I meant by the OP (i.e. not your standard athlete/person who lifts who happens to have a high BMI because of it), but if you're into health/a med student or something I'd be interested to debate this further if you make your own thread on it.

http://www.who.int/features/qa/49/en/

Btw, when I said "overweight" in the OP, I was including obese people too.

Reply 43

River85

17

Original post by Morrisseya

Why do you say "even"?

I agree that you can be reasonably active etc. and medically overweight in terms of having too much muscle. (As stated, I have a female friend like that). However, if someone has too much fat, then that does increase the risk of health problems. I don't want to take this thread too off topic as it's mainly about dating and I think people know what I meant by the OP (i.e. not your standard athlete/person who lifts who happens to have a high BMI because of it), but if you're into health/a med student or something I'd be interested to debate this further if you make your own thread on it.

http://www.who.int/features/qa/49/en/

Btw, when I said "overweight" in the OP, I was including obese people too.

I'm well aware that being overweight (or obese) is linked to a range of health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. I think everyone is.

I am not denying this. My point is someone who is slightly overweight (up to half a stone) is not significantly more likely to experience serious health problems or die early. In fact, some studies have shown there may be benefits to being slightly overweight.

It may also be important where the fat is stored. If it's on the thighs, for example, rather than the stomach/around internal organs, then all the better.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704464704575208082569868428

http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/02/being-overweight-is-linked-to-lower-risk-of-mortality/

There is no reason to create a new thread. This is about dating overweight people. People are objecting to daiting overweight people due to health risks. I'm suggesting the health risks are overstated and there may even be benefits. It's all quite relevant to the original discussion.

And the even was because I was going to say that some studies have shown that even obese people may have a lower risk of dying early, but given that these studies are questionable I decided not to and forgot to change the opening of the post.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 44

Kittiara

16

It really depends. I don't tend to be attracted to guys with a massive beer belly, or guys who are massively obese, but I don't have a problem with a bit of extra weight. It can be quite nice to cuddle someone with a bit of extra padding :colondollar:

.

Reply 45

Rakas21

21

Despite being fat myself (though i will be victorious in my mental battle) i'm not sure that i would date a fat girl as i believe becoming fat as i did was a act of weakness. The only question is whether she like me would prevail and seek an outcome close to perfection or prove herself inferior in the battle of the mind and give up.

Maybe a little chubby but not obese, unless they had a brilliany personality. No offence. But let's be honest, I've resigned myself to being a lonely cat person who is going to live in the countryside somewhere.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 47

Morrisseya

OP

10

Original post by River85

I'm well aware that being overweight (or obese) is linked to a range of health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. I think everyone is.

I am not denying this. My point is someone who is slightly overweight (up to half a stone) is not significantly more likely to experience serious health problems or die early. In fact, some studies have shown there may be benefits to being slightly overweight.

It may also be important where the fat is stored. If it's on the thighs, for example, rather than the stomach/around internal organs, then all the better.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704464704575208082569868428

http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/02/being-overweight-is-linked-to-lower-risk-of-mortality/

There is no reason to create a new thread. This is about dating overweight people. People are objecting to daiting overweight people due to health risks. I'm suggesting the health risks are overstated and there may even be benefits. It's all quite relevant to the original discussion.

And the even was because I was going to say that some studies have shown that even obese people may have a lower risk of dying early, but given that these studies are questionable I decided not to and forgot to change the opening of the post.

Regarding my thread, the question is not "would you date someone slightly overweight?", rather "anyone overweight." Again, including obese people, whom I don't think you can seriously argue do not have increased risk of poorer health. So when people say it's due to "health risks," they are obviously not just talking about the health risks associated with being slightly overweight, because I didn't limit my question to that. If I had wanted to limit the discussion to that, the OP would have said so.

That's without getting into the reasons why someone is overweight in the first place - often due to lack of exercise/poor diet, which often cause health problems in themselves. Again, my thread is pretty obviously not referring to people like athletes - I don't think anyone can seriously claim that a medically "overweight" BMI, for instance, always means that someone's unhealthy.

Also, there are a lot of other reasons that have been stated as well, such as (obviously) looks. I think it's pretty obvious that discussion of health risks for the slightly overweight only was not my intention for this thread. So, with all due respect, I'm not taking the discussion any further on here. Having said that, I've made a new thread if you want to weigh in further:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2976351&p=51640255#post51640255

Reply 48

Toriar

14

Yes but I'd probably draw the line at obese.

Reply 49

Ezme39

19

I'd like to say that personality matters above all else, but as someone who's medically underweight, I don't know how physically attracted I would be to an overweight person- I guess it depends on their overall appearance

Reply 50

River85

17

Original post by Morrisseya

Regarding my thread, the question is not "would you date someone slightly overweight?", rather "anyone overweight."

Errrr....yes...exactly. The question includes a full spectrum of people, with a significant difference between one end of the spectrum and the other.

So some peoples' replies are a flat out "no", based on health concerns, yet fail to make the distinction between being slightly overweight and obese.

I'd have no problems if such people recognised the difference and said "Not for people who were so overweight that their health may suffer and/or who were unattractive". It may seem pedantic, and maybe it is, but it's increasingly an irritation of mine that we're force fed "being fat is bad for you" that it's almost brainwashing and people become so negative towards even a slight amount of excess body fat.

Yes people are overweight due to diet and lifestyle factors, but genetics can play a part, as can medical problems (underactive thyroid, depression, side effects of medication). For those who've said no, I'd be interested to know if their opinion would change if the person made it known they were planning to lose weight, or were in the process of doing so.

Never.

Depends what you class as overweight. If they were visibly fat and were unhealthy along with it then, no. If they were just a bit stocky/big built but healthy and in control of it then that's no issue.

No.

I'm shallow.

Original post by Morrisseya

He's a Muslim which is why I guess he doesn't like those sorts of things. Having said that if he wants to discuss them he is free to make a thread about it.

You're just being ridiculous here.

Reply 55

Morrisseya

OP

10

Original post by patronusleviosa

You're just being ridiculous here.

Check his post history :yawn:

Reply 56

Mad Vlad

19

Sure. Chunky guys are cute.

Reply 57

Schrödingers Cat

16

Everyone who said yes are definitely all girls

Reply 58

Ndella

18

A medically overweight person's appearance can vary from looking average to borderline obese due to genetics and such, so I'm not too hung-up on potentially dating an overweight person. As long as he's a nice guy and I find him personally attractive, it's up to him what he eats.