Some people are obese enough to be considered disabled and therefore qualify for disability benefits under certain government rules. One of the many controversial questions surrounding the weight debate would be this. Obese people are often discriminated against, but prejudice against them stems from the widely held belief that getting fat and staying fat is the result of a lack of willpower. (Speak 337). The American Obesity Association has a completely 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 being subjected to employment discrimination based on their weight. (obesity.1) With this in mind, a series of tax breaks and disability checks are given to anyone with a serious obesity problem. This creates a debate in the mind of anyone wondering why should an overweight person receive a disability check? First, let's define the difference between overweight and obesity. The Center for Disease Control has defined obesity as the condition of an excessively high amount of fat. Morbid obesity means that the individual weighs 50 to 100 percent more than their normal weight. People considered overweight have not reached a weight high enough to be considered obese. (weight loss.) How can an individual become sufficiently obese to the point where they would create a tax break and other benefits simply by eating too much? This question is perplexing. "It has become common for government committees tasked with making public health recommendations regarding weight to be comprised exclusively of people... middle of paper ... it is a medical condition that can be cured, unlike more common diseases serious health problems such as cancer if individuals took a chance and changed a lifestyle that has become common in today's society, disability checks for the morbidly obese would be a thing of the past, if only everything. the world was trying to maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise, “Chapter Eight” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, (New York: Pearson, 2007) 337-337 “Discrimination” American Obesity Association, 3. December 2007 http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/discrimination/employment.shtml “Morbid Obesity” About.com, December 3, 2007 http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/morbid-obesity.htmPaul Campos, The Obesity Myth ( New York: Penguin Books, 2004 George V Mann, MD “Obesity, the nutritional ghost”, American Journal of Public Health, 1971