Obesity is a nationwide epidemic and healthcare costs related to obesity have reached staggering proportions. Many of these costs are passed along to everyone in the form of increased health insurance premiums, whether insured individuals are obese or not. And yet despite this, there is a growing movement in the United States to legitimize and validate the condition of obesity (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_acceptance_movement). Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Discuss the merits of the idea that obesity is an involuntary medical condition (which grants access to disabled-person parking spots, extra airplane seats, etc.) versus the idea that obesity is the negative consequence of unhealthy lifestyle choices. What kinds of messages should young people be exposed to regarding this topic? Should our society work toward shared values where it’s perfectly OK to be obese, despite the costs, or should society liken obesity to smoking, and discourage it through popular media messages and a trend of decreased accommodate