What Does it Take to Become the World's Fattest Woman?

Check out the latest nonfiction bestsellers and odds are you'll find the latest fad diet books somewhere on the list. Amazon actually lists two diet related books on its bestseller list: Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain and Keep the Body You Always Wanted as well as The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving the Planet (the latter written by celeb Alicia Silverstone).

Both books could arguably serve as proof that Americans desperately want to get thin - and stay that way. No matter how many fad diets come along, it seems another is set to replace it, waiting in the wings. Americans seem to have trouble keeping the pounds off.

One Woman, Donna Simpson, Wants to Gain 400 Pounds - Not Lose the Extra Weight

In a nation obsessed with losing weight and staying thin, why would anyone want to gain 400 pounds? But that is Donna Simpson's goal. Not only that, but the New Jersey woman already weighs more than 600 pounds. In order to be the world's fattest woman, she'll have to gain an extra 400 pounds, tipping the scale at 1000 pounds (if she meets her goal).

Is this just one woman's attempt to gain her fifteen minutes of fame? Even though there is plenty of scientific evidence that being morbidly obese can lead to serious health risks such as heart disease, Simpson is determined to make the Guinness Book of World Records. But is it worth risking one's life to set a world record, particularly when the risks of obesity are well documented?

Simpson Holds Guinness Record as World's Fattest Mother, Surviving a High Risk Pregnancy

Back in 2007, Donna Simpson gave birth when she weighed 520 pounds. It was a high risk pregnancy and took a team of doctors to help deliver the baby. No stranger to high risk pregnancy myself, I couldn't help wondering why anyone would want to put her life and that of her unborn baby in jeopardy by being so overweight. I'd written about going through pre-eclampsia and other problems during pregnancy here . One of the side effects of my high risk pregnancy was unwanted water retention and weight gain, putting me at risk of having a premature birth.

I had tried everything to keep the weight from piling on and had managed to keep it (barely) under some control. Even so, I worried about the effects on my baby. So it had been hard to imagine why Donna Simpson clings to her goal, especially now that she is a parent.

It has also admittedly been difficult to understand why anyone, parent or not, would want to put herself at risk by adding 400 pounds to a body frame that is already over 600 pounds. According to information found at the Mayo Clinic online site , those who are morbidly obese - as Simpson is - can suffer from a host of medical problems. Even before adding the additional 400 pounds, Simpson has trouble walking more than 20 feet before having to sit down and rest. This doesn't seem to be an ideal condition for the mother of a young child. How much more can her body endure?

What Does it Take to Become the World's Fattest Woman?

It actually seems to take quite a bit of effort,even for someone who loves to eat. Donna Simpson aims for a total of at least 12,000 calories a day in order to gain weight. Even women who are carrying around an extra 10, 20 or 30 pounds probably fall short of eating that amount of calories.

It is hard to imagine consuming that much food in one day, especially when there is little exercise involved, beyond lifting a fork or spoon to one's mouth. But Donna actually found support on a website for obese people and has had fans send her extra food.

When weight loss programs are so popular, perhaps there is a need to balance things out by celebrating women who aren't bone thin, people like Queen Latifah and Oprah Winfrey. But both of these women have worked hard to try and stay healthy and in the best shape possible, even if Winfrey has struggled to maintain her weight loss. What message is truly being given when someone like Donna Simpson not only accepts but celebrates a goal of gaining hundreds of pounds in order to make a record book?

Sources:

Personal experience with high risk pregnancy, Associated Content article, June 17, 2008 here
New Jersey Woman Wants to Be the World's Fattest Woman, The Cleveland Leader, March 15, 2010
Obesity, MayoClinic.com here
List of bestselling diet books at Amazon.com