This makes me so angry! Everyone is not a toothpick!

This is so dumb. The critics can only guess as to what clothes size she wears, which is inaccurate based on various brands and cuts, etc. They also can only guess her BMI, which isn't a very good standard to use. They haven't seen her medical records, they don't know how she's built.

Also, yes, obesity is a big problem. But having a "fit"/thinner person as a role model/standard is NOT going to change that. All the other surgeon generals, as far as I know, have been fairly thin - and yet the rate of obesity has gone up. It really doesn't matter. Maybe some of the ridiculous standards the health department has to define what is "healthy" will change if they see someone who doesn't fit their physical standards but is still healthy.

I think it's absolutely relevant. I don't think that she's more than just plump (not obese or anything), but if the Surgeon General pick were obese, I couldn't take anything he/she said very seriously, considering what a huge health risk you put on yourself by carrying around all that extra weight.

Sorry, I think it's relevant, too. Obesity runs in my family. I know intimately the medical conditions excess weight can bring (high blood pressure, kidney damage, diabetes, heart attack, sleep apnea, etc. The list goes on!). This is part of the reason I'm committed to my lifestyle of exercise and fitness. I want to stave off the medical conditions my family members have. Our family doctor is really proud of me.

As much as I admire Dr. Benjamin, I do have some reservations about her weight. Sorry.

It is relevant. BUT. I agree that while she does not appear to be a "perfect" size six, there is no way to tell that she is not fit or is unhealthy in anyway. Body type is genetic, and some people are going to be a size 14 even when they eat a 1700 calorie diet of mostly vegetables and exercise for 60 minutes a day. That's just how it is. Dr. Benjamin may live a completely healthy lifestyle for all we know - it's not like she's 400 lbs or something.

It's definitely relevant, although I don't think she looks obese.

Although Dr. Benjamin obviously is not obese, she is plump. Her accomplishments are commendable, and she may be quite healthy, but President Obama's decision to name her Surgeon General serves as a message to a country filled with citizens whose waistlines are ever-expanding that obesity is not the serious issue that it in fact is.

I agree it's relevant. I don't think she is so overweight that it rises to a level of hypocracy.

I'd love to see this turned around on fat, white congressmen. I'd like to see them bared from health subcommitees.

Ummm... that woman has GIGANTIC breasts. While she isn't super thin, that can make you look so much bigger than you really are. Give her a break. She clearly cares about health, especially with a parent who died of diabetes/high blood pressure.

I think if she was obese it might actually be an issue...

This is retarded that people are obsessed with her weight. Like you said, we don't know what her daily routine is and just how healthy she is.
Her background and achievements should be the reason she got the job nothing else.

She will be a role model and so her weight may be relevant, but we do not know if she is healthy or not just by looking at her. She could run 5 miles a day and still not be a size two. She could be muscular and just LOOK bulky.
On the same point, just because you are thin does not mean you are healthy. I know plenty of size two and five women who cannot do even one push-up; who smoke, drink and are basically in horrible health. Looks are deceiving.

It's relevant, but people should be thinking healthy, realistic fit. People are all shapes and sizes and are healthy. She happens to look normal to me. And this just goes to show that people still think that hollywood thin is the norm when it's so not.

Her weight is irrelevant. First of all, she is a doctor, and doctors are too busy with their patients' health and work to be going to the gym every other day. Seconly, People need to stop worrying about the "obesity" problem in the U.S. as much as they need to worry about the price of food, how public schools are cutting P.E. programs, and some states like FL offer online P.E., yes strange and shocking, online P.E. Its funny how the cheapest food available is always the one with the highest salt content and calorie count. Its funny how noone seems to mention bulimia or anorexia as weight issues. Seriously, I think this is just blatant discrimination according to waist size because if it were truly serious, then people would be lobbying for "change" in the public school systems where children begin to learn their activity/eating habits. And diet sodas and splenda filled cookies are not the answer...thats just gross. More like moderation and activity.

Sorry for the rant....

I think her weight is ultimately not relevant to whether or not she will be an effective Surgeon General. On the surface, it may appear that if she is overweight, she will not be a strong advocate for healthy lifestyles. Many people see an overweight or plump person and assume they are lazy and eat unhealthy foods. But who is to say what her lifestyle is like? For all we know she is probably a moderately healthy person who for whatever reason happens to carry some extra weight. No one knows her exact BMI, or medical history, so we should reserve our judgement for how she actually performs her duties. In the end all that matters is her ability to implement effective health public policy and influence change in our country's health habits. A thin person is not necessarily more likely to be able to do that.

If she were a man, it would never even be mentioned as an issue.

Also, it's discrimination, pure and simple, and the first step down a very bad road. Once you start rejecting people for high offices based on weight, what stops that from tricling down, and employers being able to use 'Well, they're fat!' as an excuse?

spacekatgal, I TOTALLY agree with this: I'd love to see this turned around on fat, white congressmen. I'd like to see them bared from health subcommitees.

however, I had two health teachers in elementary school and high school and each of them were extremely obese. I sat through the classes thinking to myself "this is a joke." practice what you preach.

I'd like to see it turned around on fat congressman, as well, although I don't see why you two included white in that.

Dr. Benjamin is a local doctor in a nearby community and I have a family member that is the manager of a McDonald's in that community. He knows her pretty well- said she eats there daily.
Does that mean that she can't do the job? Nope. Just sayin-she doesn't have the healthiest diet. Congrats to her on the nomination!

It is discrimination, plain and simple. Unless you have seen her medical records you have no way of knowing how healthy she is. Some people are larger than others and she is far from obese. Obesity is a serious issue that should be addressed for health reason but size-acceptance is another serious issue. If young woman who look like Dr. Benjamin hear these comments that can lead to anexoria and bulimia. This is a double-edged sword and while people can be healthy a little overweight it is almost impossible to survive when you starve yourself to death.

Size-acceptance is a real movement and a necessary one to see real change in this health epidemic.

I agree about the fat congressman comment. Let's prevent them from having jobs and see how well that goes over. Or congressman that smoke, or drink, or skydive, or drive fast cars. This is getting real close to government intervention in my private life and that is not ok with me.

I didn't think she was all that large...

She looks like a completely healthy average-sized woman. How is her "fit" level important? You don't know what she does/doesn't do to maintain herself.
I would be considered overweight yet I walk vigorously an hour a day, have four flights of stairs in my home and swim on a regular basis. When my thinner (and supposedly more fit) friends are with me, they cannot keep up.
As the adage goes "You can't judge a book by the cover."

Umm this is just ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. Talk about judgemental! Just bc you are not what society considers "SKINNY" does NOT mean that you are in any way unhealthy. Your lifestlye belongs to YOU! That makes me angry...

Health matters first - not appearance. If everyone understood that many weight issues would be solved.

i've been in japan for the past four months or so, and based on just this ONE picture, she looks unhealthy to me. i'm not saying she has to be a size two, but as the surgeon general, the one telling me to exercise everyday and eat a healthy diet, she has to look healthy, plain and simple. i mean, would you listen to someone telling you smoking is bad when they're puffing two packs a day? and i know people's body sizes are different, but if you ate a healthy diet and exercised regularly, you're not going to be a size 14. you just aren't. but that's just my opinion and i'm dealing with my own weight issues, so >shrug<</p> 25