Every now and then I run across the idea that people who can't lose weight or maintain a weight loss must "subconsciously" want to be fat: that the fat is providing them with a benefit. The most recent example is Dr. Phil's article in the current issue of O magazine (with the theme of "Age"). He gives the example of a woman who says she is unhappy about her weight, but never loses it. He "discovers" that she was sexually abused as a child and stays fat to stay unsexy (sorry, I think that's an overused example of why someone might prefer to be fat).

What do others think of this basic idea, that there is (for some) an unrecognized benefit in being overweight?