podgypossum

I have had a nagging thought since hearing from a few people that if you are seriously overweight you can be refused a visa in Oz.
(Thats why i am furiously trying to deal with it!!)

If they can refuse someone on the basis of being overweight and a potential risk to using the health service because of it, then why not smokers as well???

Isnt this discrimination?

bondipom

The medical is designed to prevent immigrants being a financial burden on the medical system. There is a $ figure mentioned now and again but it varies so I will not quote it because of the unreliability of the figure.

If someone has health complications due to smoking they might be refused as well.

There are many permuations and combinations that can affect cost of health so it is impossible to say who they will accept or not due to being overweight.

Dealing with it is your choice and you will benefit from dealing with it. Try and see it as an opportunity. Those that do not deal with could be regarded as a burden on the health system and rightly be refused a visa.

Another difference with smoking is that smokers fund their healthcare through the taxes they pay on cigarettes. Personally I cannot stand smoking but that is irrelevant here.

podgypossum

Hmmm...do we not pay taxes on food?..LOL

What about alcoholics?


And by the way... (this one aimed at kangaroo man) posting pics up on the board of fat women so you can laugh and poke fun and call them ugly, isnt gonna encourage us to get down the beach and have the excercise we need....would YOU go if people laughed everytime you went down there???

People get like this for many wide and varied reasons, not all because they are lazy bums.

bondipom

I have never been over weight so I cannot comment. I am sure people at the beach laugh at my surfing but I carry on. As I said earlier you will benefit if you shed the weight.

Obesity and the associated health problems are on the increase. Some way out of the Catch 22 you descibe has to be found and us healthy weight people are the least likely to provide the answer.

We are also going to be paying for the health problems of those who drink too much and of those who are obese.

MrsDagboy

Podgy, just out of left field, how tall are you?

I dont know anything about medicals, but wouldnt they take more into consideration than just a figure representing how much you weight?

Good luck with it.

podgypossum

I am 5ft 8"... and dont you DARE aske me to post how much i weigh...LMAO

BP..i am in no way defending being obese..i hate it and desperately want to deal with it. All i am saying is, that the process of singling out one unhealthy sector of society is unfair on the basis of being "bad" for you. If they do say that ANYONE who is considered unhealthy through their own choice is at risk of refusal then fair enough...but they are not.

As a side point...does the UK make the same stipulations on entry??..does anyone know?

MrsDagboy

LOL, no, just wanted to know your height, its about the same as mine .

bondipom

If you had terminal cancer they would reject you. Choice is irrelevant. The medical system maybe vague but there is a system there and there appear to be few hard and fast rules. They work out your cost to the system and make a decision that way.

Banning smoker immigrants sounds like a good idea.

I know you want to deal with it and it is hard.

podgypossum

Right...i'm off for a 30km bike ride and a quick 10km sea swim on my way back...see ya later

bondipom

You'd put Badge to shame with that.

anya4oz

*Too right*! I put on ~20 kilos after starting to take steroids for asthma, despite taking more exercise than most of my girlfriends put together. It was horrific - but just the way my body reacted. Have got more than half of it off now, but it's been very hard work. Way to go...

When I was at my biggest, I wanted to walk round with a placard saying 'it's not me, it's my medical condition'.

Other conditions that can seriously affect your weight include thyroid probs & diabetes (a diabetic friend varies between seriously gross and Callista-Flockhart-Spec with this condition, for no ryhme or reason).

Meanwhile, Mr Anya, along with a number of my pals, eats what he likes & never puts on an ounce!

'S not fair!

Anya (member of Larger Ladies Liberation Front - or do I run the risk of getting those 'norks' guys talking again, by saying that?!).

Amazulu

I'm overweight (not obese) & I got through it. They are looking for serious conditions. If being overweight is a big issue, then they are going to have to deport half of Australia. They are a real lard arse nation.

podgypossum

Thankyou Anya..at last someone who relates!!!!!...i come under the diabetic banner... I know exactly what you mean about wearing a placard. I used to be a trim size 12 and was a county swimmer in my teens. I was always invited to parties, enjoyed myself and lived life to the full... all of a sudden, once the weight piled on, the builders vans dont beep at you anymore (not that i miss it to be honest), male shopkeepers behave as if you are not there, men snigger and poke fun, (and god forbid if you dared to speak to them they'd die of embarrassment) I have to be fair though, i met a female yesterday who couldnt maintain eye contact when speaking to me, and rudely talked over me as if i werent there. Very sad...

Now....... what has changed to make me deserve this treatment??...my body shape is different ... My brain is the same, my heart feels the same, all that is different is my size... anyone would think i was a bloody serial killer the way some people behave!!!


phewwwwwwwww...i feel much better now i got that off my rather ample chest... carry on...as you were

teach

Hiya PP

Well when I step on the scales, they are going to have a massive shock. At 5'3" I should weigh around 8st 10lbs, don't ask me in kilos as I haven't a clue. The lowest I have ever managed to get was 10st 7lbs but that was with near starvation in a desperate attempt to do something about my weight once and for all. I've tried all the diets, been to all the classes and each one has a short term effect of about 7lb loss. I'm now trying one that doesn't allow white carbs after 5pm. So far 4lbs, but when I weigh on Tuesday that might change. I look slightly overweight with my clothes on but with them off, yuck. At present I am 13st 2lbs and working very hard to shift at least 2st plus. I have always been chunky even when I was teaching outdoor ed, it was actually worse then as I had tons of muscle and with my tan and blonde hair, I looked like a German bodybuilder. Lol.
Keep at it, as long as you are healthy and active, surely that must go in your favour.

Best Wishes
Sarah

Grayling

Diabetes is one of the conditions they may be concerned about.
It is one of the factors that cause concern in overweight people as it is obesity which often causes type 2 diabetes.
It is usually a combination of factors which cause concern,many caused by being overweight hence the importance placed on weight.


G