There are some people who are obese enough to be considered disabled and therefore eligible for disability benefits under certain government rules. One of the many controversial issues surrounding the weight debate would be this. Obese people are often victims of discrimination, but prejudice against the obese stems from the widespread belief that gaining and staying fat is the result of a failure of willpower. (Spake 337). The American Obesity Association has a totally different approach to this delicate issue. Evidence of discrimination is found at virtually every stage of the employment cycle, including but not limited to overweight people subjected to employment discrimination based on body weight. (Obesity.1) With this in mind, a variety of tax breaks and disability benefits are given to anyone with a serious obesity problem. This creates a debate in the minds of those wondering why an overweight person should receive a disability allowance? First let's define the difference between overweight and obesity. The Center for Disease Control has defined obesity as having an excessively high amount of fat. Morbid obesity means that the individual weighs 50 to 100% more than normal weight. People considered overweight have not reached a high enough weight to be considered obese. (weight loss). How can an individual become overweight enough to create a tax break and other benefits simply by eating too much? This problem boggles the mind. “It has become routine for government committees charged with making public health recommendations regarding weight to be composed exclusively of people… at the heart of the paper… a medical condition that can be cured, as opposed to more serious ones . health problems such as cancer. If individuals decided to take a chance and change a lifestyle that has become prevalent in today's society, disability checks for the morbidly obese would be a thing of the past, if only everyone tried to maintain a healthy weight through diet and physical exercise. Works Cited Amanda Spoke, “Chapter Eight” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, (New York: Pearson, 2007) 337-337“Discrimination” American Obesity Association, December 3, 2007http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/discrimination/employment .shtml“Morbid Obesity” About.com, December 3, 2007 http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/morbid-obesity.htm Paul Campos, The Obesity Myth (New York: Penguin Books, 2004 George V Mann, MD” Obesity, the Nutritional Spook”, American Journal of Public Health, 1971