I finally realized what about this bothers me so much, so get ready for a rant folks. It's because it promotes the attitude in today's society that being overweight, even by a little, makes it legitimate to subject someone to ridicule, taunting and verbal abuse simply because of a number on a scale or that they don't fit the (IMNSHO, ANOREXIC) model of beauty that the media presents us with).
Does being overweight make us less human? How about lower intelligence? Less capable of doing a good job than the next person? Without feelings? A worse husband/wife than a skinny person? Should we forfeit our right to be treated with dignity and respect soley because of our size? The answer to all of those is NO! Does not fitting the mold of what someone else feels is beauty make us deserving of such treatment? No! When I get to my goal weight, I will still be the same person I was when I weighed 260 pounds. About the only difference I have noticed so far is that I now have the self esteem and confidence to stand up to the morons who think they have a right to comment on my size and call them for the jerks they are.
As an adult, I can stand up for myself, but it's this same attitude even among young children that has made it necessary for me to have to be on guard against a possible eating disorder in my 9 year old daughter! About a year ago, she started getting a little chubby and when the other kids in her class found out what she weighed (much thanks to her gym teacher for that one), they started taunting her. This was in second grade, folks! How did she respond? She quit eating and dropped nearly 20 pounds in 6 months. Great! some folks might say. Not great. At that age, losing that much weight that quickly can cause a child to stop growing and it damages their bodies in other ways. Her pediatrician is having a fit! Not to mention, now we have to battle the mindset of "I'm fat" even when she is NOT fat, nor was she when all this started and she's preoccupied with how much she weighs at 9 years old! She didn't "fit the mold" of how the other kids thought she should be and she wasn't mature enough to stand up for herself and tell them to get a life. That's how much damage words (and the attitude that you have to be skinny to be an acceptable human being) can do and it is NOT acceptable in my opinion.
What I find especially disturbing is that someone who (I presume) has suffered verbal abuse or discrimination due to their size would see this as perfectly acceptable behavior to engage in.

End of rant.