Without it being <i>entirely</i> their fault.<p>I know I am at least partially at fault for being fat.  I sit on ass all day and rarely exercise.  That certainly doesn&#x27;t <i>help</i>.<p>But I also know that several of the reasons for obesity do not originate in the frontal lobe of the brain, and are therefore not the result of conscious decision-making.  And that absolves me from some fraction of the burden of culpability.<p>But not the whole thing.  I could make conscious choices to make my body healthier.  But I don&#x27;t, and therefore I can accept at least a little bit of the blame.<p>It&#x27;s more important to me that I don&#x27;t care one little bit about how strangers feel about my obesity.  The only one I am answerable to for the condition of my body is myself.  So if you choose to view me as a slothful glutton, you may.  If you choose to view me as the unlucky product of genes, microbiome, and advertising, you may.  I only care to the extent that you can help me achieve my own health goals.<p>Continually reiterating the thermodynamic dietary hypothesis to me (energy eaten minus energy expended) does not help.  I doubt it helps anyone except possibly those who do not already know what a kilocalorie is.<p>That&#x27;s why I like that research in this vein is being pursued.  Even if no one loses even a single gram of white adipose tissue as a result, it could at least help kill off the multitude of fad diets that do not work for anyone, regardless of their individual physiology.  And it might instill a bit of humility and understanding in those who never quite grasped that their fit bodies are the result of hard work <i>and</i> good fortune, not just the former.