COMMENTARY | In the context of the images of skeletal children coming from Somalia, Susanne Eman’s attempt to become the “fattest” woman in the world embraces gluttony at its worst. The 32-year-single mother of two consumes 20,000 calories a day, enough to feed 10 adult women at an average of 2,000 calories. Her bio on her blog, “On the Way to 1600+ Pounds,” says that “she’s looking forward to pushing the limits and seeing just how fat” she can get. Currently 728 pounds, she says she wants to reach a ton, according to OpposingViews.com
The Sun reported that her doctor, Patrick Flyte , says that although he doesn’t see anything psychologically or otherwise wrong with her, “She’s playing Russian Roulette with her life.”
Though Susanne insists she is healthy, she’s arranged for her sister to care for her children if she gets sick. She claims she should hit 1,600 pounds by age 41 or 42, according to the Daily Mail.
If she lives that long.
Flyte told CBS-5, Casa Grande’s local affiliate, “Quite honestly she didn’t seem to comprehend the medical or physical risks to her body and health with the goal of hers of being the fattest living woman in the world…If she does pursue this goal, in all likelihood, she’s definitely going to have a premature death and it could happen literally within a few years.”
All at once we have brutal stories of famine in Africa, people wasting away without food, while a woman sets her sights on drowning herself in it. If she does, in fact, live to age 42 and continues to eat 20,000 calories per day, which adds up to 7.3 million calories per year, she will have consumed approximately 73 million calories over 10 years, or enough to feed 29,200 people for one day at 2,500 calories. Someone eating a diet of 2,500 calories per day will eat approximately 9.1 million calories over 10 years, in comparison.
To consume so much for a ludicrous weight record is unconscionable. Reports conflict as to whether Eman is unemployed or works as a “super-sized” model, but either way, the costs of the food must be staggering.
Meanwhile, children who look like little more than bones with skin stretched across still try to smile for the camera.
Eman’s pursuit of tonnage is morally corrupt in a world where so many have so little. Gluttony ranks among the deadly sins for a reason: It implies that overindulgence carries with it withholding from the needy.
Susanne, save your life and make sure your children have a mother. Change your goal. Instead of assaulting yourself with a barrage of calories, dedicate yourself to reducing your personal consumption and making sure the others who could use your excess calories receive them.