It's amazing how supposedly intelligent and informed people think that extremely obese people should simply stop eating so much and "get on a bike or die".
They quite clearly have a psychological issue rather than just "liking pizzas a bit too much". Every such documentary I have ever seen has had such people in tears of desperation. It seems clear that they are trapped.
It's the same with Alcoholism (although most people now recognise that as a disease rather than "liking beer a bit too much"). Do we really think George Best thought it would be a good idea to keep binging when he knew it would kill him? I've heard him speak many times, he was desperate to quit, he was a tragic individual.
Most animals are programmed to eat as much as they can when food is available, it's brain-stem code. It's doesn't require a great leap to imagine that this programming could be extreme in some cases, we accept it of other addictions.
I've seen many posts on this forum (quite rightly) giving their support to YACF members with alcohol problems and yet there is still a different attitude when it comes to obesity.
You can, medically, get through life without booze, you can learn to totally avoid it, but, for the eating-addicted, they need to deal with their issues many times a day.
Try suggesting to a recovering alcoholic that they need to pop into the pub, just for a half, 3 times a day.
Would, I wonder, a recovering alcoholic have more sympathy with someone with such an eating disorder?
For the record, if 1 = Anorexic , 5 = absolutely sensible about food and 10 = Britain's Heaviest Man, I would say I am 6.5. I can't just rely on my appetite to control my food intake, I always need to monitor/control myself. I can understand that there are people at 8,9 & 10 on that scale who have a real battle on their hands.
I'm sure there will be some 6s & 7s on this forum, possibly 8s.