What if conservatives were as concerned about eating too much and getting fat as they were people...

[Person Man]

having sex and having abortions?

With so much faith-based debate about funding and access of birth control and abortion, LBGTQ protection and tolerance, sexual education, and under which situations sex should be legally discourage what if things went a different way?

Would it backfire and make America much more secular, not really do anything or, do you think it would improve public health to restrict the rights to eat and be obese or at least increase demand for such policies? Do you think that it would be a political winner but backfire if such an agenda made it into policy?

[Damocles]

Firstly, the obesity epidemic that has been affecting our population for decades is the confluence of a perfect storm of factors. Chief among them are a lack of physical exercise, car dependence, exposure to hormonal contaminants, poor quality food and eating habits, and most of all, stress eating. All of these need addressing in a comprehensive, targeted plan to repair our toxic relationship with food as an escape mechanism.

Secondly, how you eat and what you eat matters. Especially for young kids that do not have good eating habits by default, it is important that we reinforce and teach what good food tastes like and how much is suitable. We have been doing our children a disgusting (morally and literally) disservice by serving them slop in the school lunch line, and it’s ridiculous to expect them to perform at their best when they’re running on slop.

[RI]

I agree that sky high obesity rates are a major and underappreciated issue in the US, but equating it to abortion is absurdly reductive and the general attitude of the OP is not one which will win over many allies.

[lfromnj]

Body positivity would grow even faster among the left in reaction.

[John Dule]

I agree that sky high obesity rates are a major and underappreciated issue in the US, but equating it to abortion is absurdly reductive and the general attitude of the OP is not one which will win over many allies.

Well, gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, so it's not too big of a stretch (no pun intended) to suggest that Christians might have a problem with obesity.

[Person Man]

I agree that sky high obesity rates are a major and underappreciated issue in the US, but equating it to abortion is absurdly reductive and the general attitude of the OP is not one which will win over many allies.

Well, gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, so it's not too big of a stretch (no pun intended) to suggest that Christians might have a problem with obesity.

Basically 1Corinthians 6:6-9 goes after gluttony (drunkards) about as directly as it goes against the LGBT community(temple prostitutes).

[TJ in Oregon]

I would support charging people by weight (including luggage) in airplanes.

[Person Man]

I agree that sky high obesity rates are a major and underappreciated issue in the US, but equating it to abortion is absurdly reductive and the general attitude of the OP is not one which will win over many allies.

Just because you can't have one issue like this when talking about food as you do sex doesn't mean that its immoral or stupid to point out that being irresponsible with food is just as dangerous as being irresponsible with sex.

I would support charging people by weight (including luggage) in airplanes.

See? That would be something that religious conservatives and conservative pilot unions and transportation executive could get behind.

[lfromnj]

Body positivity would grow even faster among the left in reaction.

To go on further Im pretty sure the left would start calling it a racist dog whistle of sorts too.

[anthonyjg]

Temperance probably works as an analogy here, though I don’t think these hypothetical conservatives would enjoy as much success as that movement did.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Body positivity would grow even faster among the left in reaction.

To go on further Im pretty sure the left would start calling it a racist dog whistle of sorts too.

To put all of that in (intersectional) perspective, here are NHANES 2017-2018 data on obesity rates:

non-Hispanic White men: 44.7%
non-Hispanic Black men: 41.1%
non-Hispanic Asian men: 17.5%
Hispanic men: 45.7%

non-Hispanic White women: 39.8%
non-Hispanic Black women: 56.9%
non-Hispanic Asian women: 17.2%
Hispanic women: 43.7%

non-Hispanic White total: 42.2%
non-Hispanic Black total: 49.6%
non-Hispanic Asian total: 17.4%
Hispanic total: 44.8%

To be clear, these are estimates, and I imagine fairly rough ones.