Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Rudd Sound Bites has a great article about Dr. Regina Benjamin and whether she is qualified to be the Surgeon General.

• Rudd Sound Bites: Why does Dr. Benjamin’s size matter?

There has been a surge of discussion this week about Obama’s pick for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. The focus has not been on Dr. Benjamin’s many accomplishments or qualifications as a health care champion.

No, the focus has been on her body weight, and the criticism that somehow being overweight discounts and discredits all of her impressive qualities and accomplishments.

The truth of the matter is, she is MORE than qualified to handle the job of Surgeon General. When you look at her record, she is freakin’ amazing.

• Regina Benjamin – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first step toward getting our country healthy again is acceptance. Polarizing weight as a health issue isn’t the best direction for the United States.

The same people who are trying to make obesity a disease are now trying to discriminate against Dr. Benjamin because of her weight. Would it be fair to discredit other Surgeon General candidates because they had a different disease like diabetes? No, it wouldn’t. In fact, it would give them MORE credibility because they have dealt with keeping themselves healthy despite a disease.

They can’t have it both ways. If they want to call obesity a disease or label it as an epidemic, then they can’t discriminate against Dr. Benjamin.