Fat acceptance is a dangerous idea. It is on par with cutting1 acceptance. Simply put, an overweight body is indicative of self-abuse. When we say that it is OK to be fat, we say that it is OK to put oneself at risk for heart attacks, liver failure, kidney disorders, and a whole host of other problems. A child who is obese by the age of 15 has his life expectancy shortened by 17 to 27 years.
To be fair, there are some people who will never be skinny. Their bodies metabolize food in such a way that a stocky body is inevitable. However, there is no excuse for weighing a quarter of a ton. To turn a blind eye to this sort of deadly behavior would be equivalent to ignoring your friend's heroin addiction.
The problem is clearly getting worse. In less than 30 years, one generation, the adult obesity rate has doubled from 15 to 30 percent. In the same period, those considered overweight have gone from 47 to 64 percent. Nearly two-thirds of the population of the United States is considered overweight.
I do not believe that fat people are worse than their thinner brethren. However, in a culture where we can feel free to harass a smoker for threatening his own health, we need to pay attention to other risks. Acceptance of one deadly behavior is hypocritical when we so adamantly deny the rights to another. You may not have a choice in what sort of metabolism you live with, but you can change your diet, and get some exercise. When 2/3 of the population is considered unhealthy, we need to reconsider whether acceptance is a good idea.
1: I don't refer to cutting as a means of body modification, but rather, the dangerous, unplanned self-abuse version.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, "Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults: United States 1999-2000", http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/obese/obse99.htm
Inspired in part by Super Size Me.