It’s official.  Oprah is a quitter. I know this sounds harsh, but as she says, “her life is about affecting the lives of millions and millions” (maybe even billions) of people. But she has abandoned her flock in the one area that she could have the largest single effect on quality and longevity of human lives.

She has told us that it is okay to be fat.

But that is a lie. It is a horrible  horrible lie.  And she knows better. Obesity is an epidemic in America. According to the CDC it is the second biggest risk to our health (second only to smoking).  And it is the single largest contributor to health care costs. It is now threatening to be a generational disease as up to a third of American children are now overweight according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Oprah says it is okay accept yourself if you are fat.  But would she say the same thing if you were a drug addict, and alcoholic, or a child abuser?  The effects on your health are just as severe for obesity as for drug addition and alcoholism. And a large percentage of obese adults are abusing their children by feeding them a diet that will lead to their obesity. 

Oprah told Barbara Walters that she no longer has the time to concern herself with her weight.  Eating less with the services of a full-time professional chef requires no time at all.  And being healthy requires only an investment of 30 minutes of exercise four times a week. 

And when you consider that millions and millions of people believe that Oprah’s values are the values that all of us should adopt, how can she abandon the most important values of all?  Life, health and our children.

Isn’t it ironic that Oprah’s new network was formerly Discovery Health?

Shouldn’t prudent and sound advice on health, diet and fitness be one of her “favorite things” shows? I know it would make me scream and jump up and down.

To comment on this post, email the author dennis@healthjag.com