Editor:

I rarely agree with anything The Chronicle says, but mad props for the recent editorial (“Just the fats, ma’am,” March 1). It’s a sorry day when people’s excuse for obesity is genetic predisposition or simply that they love to indulge, and that is OK!

Obesity results in billions of dollars in health-care costs in the United States alone-look up any report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These are costs shared by all Americans, obese or not. The simple fact that there are more obese people now than 20 years ago does not make it more socially acceptable, nor should it.

Certainly there are cases when a person is overweight for reasons outside his or her own control. More often, however, it is the result of laziness and an inability to consciously decide to live a healthy lifestyle. No one likes to be called lazy, which is perhaps why all the “love the fat” talk goes on.

Certainly no one can be expected to live up to the insane expectations of the skinny industry, and the American definition of “fit” tends to be highly selective; but this does not mean people shouldn’t strive to get out to the gym more than once a year (or never).

Obesity has no excuse-and you can love your body as much as you want, but that doesn’t mean anyone else should have to.

Sabrina King?Freshman, Political Science and Economics