It’s sort of like being a little pregnant and kind of fat. Nevertheless, McDonald’s is to be commended for attempting to make some effort to cut the fat.

It has been announced by the Surgeon General that 60 percent of Americans are overweight, a number of them obese. This is a health crisis, and there are many components to the problem.

First and foremost, regardless of what may be politically correct to say, a lot of us are overweight because we love places such as KFC and McDonald’s and are obsessed with high-calorie foods.

Second, our society places an inordinate value on thinness, especially thin women, and bombards us with food. Everywhere we look we are greeted by more and more desirable restaurants and platters of delicious food glowing from billboards in the middle of the night.

Plus, many restaurants don’t give plates anymore. Platters are offered because we fat Americans are not satisfied with small and medium portions.

In Women’s World, a popular magazine found on many grocery store checkout stands, there are articles telling us how we can eat hot fudge sundaes and still lose weight. If it were not for the devastation that obesity causes, it would almost be funny.

But it isn’t funny. The results of obesity are heart disease, high blood pressure, joint and bone problems and the disease I live with every day, diabetes. The financial toll on the health care system from treating the diseases that result from obesity is colossal.

The third component to this love affair with high-fat and high-calorie food is the physical manifestation, which is becoming overweight and obese.

Society, while encouraging over-consumption, is not kind to overweight people. It has been documented and proven that obese people are discriminated against more regularly than any racial or religious group.

CNN recently reported that overweight people are more likely, regardless of their qualifications, to be denied a job if a thinner, less- qualified applicant is a candidate too.

Positions that are considered front desk jobs, such as receptionists, are rarely given to overweight people, or for that matter, unattractive people. Additionally, CNN also reported that overweight people make less money.

We all know that jokes that are made about different ethnic or racial groups are frowned upon, but jokes made about the obese are permitted.

The bottom line is this:There are a lot of overweight and obese Americans, and in the end, it will kill us or cause us severe problems that affect the quality of our life if not treated. There are many avenues to get help, especially here on campus. Nutritional counseling is offered at the Wellness Center, and there is the Recreation Center, where there are people who are very friendly and willing to help with fitness assessments and provide moral support.

Moreover, there are healthy choices regarding food that we must make. Above all we must say to McDonald’s and the other fat, I mean fast food restaurants, thank you but no thank you – we’ve had enough.