Obesity: do we love it, hate it or are we just plain sick of hearing about it?

There was an interesting article in the newspaper the other day about a new drug being developed by Pfizer for overweight dogs. Pfizer must have finally realized the general public is getting sick and tired of hearing every day on television and in the newspapers about how obese we are. So some of us are fat? Give it a rest! Move on to something new and more interesting. If people are overweight, they will deal with it as they see fit.

I’m thinking maybe Pfizer thought there was still something left to milk out of the obesity subject. Why not try dogs? So Pfizer went to work and discovered Slentrol. The name even makes you feel slimmer! There are lots of fat little puppies running around that could definitely use some help. Now all they have to do is have their owners visit the local vet and get a supply of Slentrol.

But I can see many problems with this new discovery. The dog owner might be fat also, so if it works on the dog, why not on the owner? I can just see women dragging fat little dogs . . . maybe even borrowing some if they don’t have their own . . . to the vet and asking for the drug for their overweight dogs. The FDA discourages the drug’s use for humans as there are many side effects, but you know how humans are. They don’t always listen to good advice. The vet is supposed to monitor the monthly weight change of the dog on the drug and adjust the daily dosage. I don’t suppose they would do the same for the owner. That reminds me of an episode of “Seinfeld” . . . everything reminds me of “Seinfeld” . . . when every doctor in Manhattan refused to treat Elaine’s rash because she was very difficult, so she ended up at a vet’s office, and he also refused to treat her rash. It seems the physicians had sent her chart to the vet so he would be apprised of her difficult behavior. . . oh well, I guess you just had to be there.

There was another interesting article on the same subject: obesity. Only this time it’s in China. They have recently put restrictions on adoptions by foreigners such as those who are single, older than 50, taking antidepressants or are obese. In China fat is basically bad. In the 19th century, a sign of great wealth and success was being heavy, but more recently China has been a very poor country, and everyone is thin. Even though their country is now doing well, they feel that smaller is better. In our country, we are supposed to embrace diversity in everything, but that’s not the case in China. So if you want to adopt a little Chinese baby, you better start out skinny which should help your chances considerably in the adoption of a skinny, little Chinese baby.