Opinion | The Food and Life Choices of a ‘Fat Activist’

To the Editor:

Re “In the Age of Ozempic, She’s Fighting for the Freedom to Be ‘Fat’” (front page, April 22), about Virginia Sole-Smith:

Ms. Sole-Smith does have the freedom to be fat. Adults have the right to make their own choices and pay the consequences that flow from them. While I respect every person’s right to eat what they want and do not think fat shaming is right, I take real issue with parents who try to push this on their children.

Parents are morally obligated to educate their children about obvious and known dangers to their health. Eating poorly, overeating and being overweight are obvious dangers.

Letting kids have occasional sweets is one thing; allowing them to eat brownies for dinner is another. Sorry, but this woman needs a little less freedom and a lot more parental responsibility.

Jeanne L. Ramasso
Mount Sinai, N.Y.

To the Editor:

I am disappointed that you gave a platform to someone who sits in judgment of those who look at the number on their scale, honestly tally up the health impacts and think: “I love my body, but for me to continue enjoying my life, there must be less of it.”

That’s what I said to myself two years ago, when the toll of being 95 pounds overweight hit home. I have been active most of my life, enjoying a mix of indoor and outdoor activities. But as I gained weight, I could do less and less of those things because doing so hurt from my lower back all the way down through my feet. Plus, I have multiple health issues that are directly linked to being overweight.

I sought out and joined a medically supervised weight loss program. After about a year, the needle had gotten stuck with 70 pounds still to lose. My doctor and I agreed that bariatric surgery was the next reasonable step. I’m recovering from that surgery as I write this.