It's outrageous enough to come across state lawmakers who proposed to prohibit restaurants from serving obese people.

But that outrage gets compounded when you hear about who's complaining about it, and why.

Steve Holland chairs the Mississippi House Public Health and Human Services Committee, and has promised - thankfully - to strangle this bill in its cradle with a pocket veto if necessary. The bill, cosponsored by three state House members, would make it illegal for restaurants to serve fat customers - and if restaurateurs have a hard time determining who's fat and who isn't, the state Department of Health will offer criteria to help render a decision.

The three lawmakers are back-pedaling on it now, and one cosponsor said he wouldn't even vote for it. State Rep. Ted Mayhall said he and his colleagues filed the bill merely to bring attention to Mississippi's obesity problem.

If intentionally crafting bad, time-wasting legislation was his best idea for raising awareness of rampant obesity, Mayhall should've switched to Plan B.

How ludicrous that such a bill was even proposed, whatever the motive. Why even suggest that you could legislate obesity away, or deprive business owners from serving whomever they choose?

Naturally, this bill drew a good deal of criticism. But do you know from whom? We wish we were making this up - the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Its mission statement, in part, is to help obese people "accept themselves, to live more fulfilling lives, and to promote acceptance of fat people within society."

Since when do fat people need a national advocacy group to help them accept themselves? Judging by current obesity rates, they seem to be doing a fine job by themselves.

And is being obese really something you should accept? Whoever coined the phrase "fat and happy" left out the reality of hindered mobility, shortness of breath and the vastly increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and the many types of cancer found to be associated with obesity.

What's sad is that too many obese people choose to live like that. Not everyone can claim genetics or a thyroid condition as a reason for not dropping pounds. In large part, it's simply a matter of turning down that third piece of pie and exercising more.

Thinner people have to suffer along with them, too. That's because taxpayers dole out billions every year to Medicare and Medicaid so they can treat a whole raft of obesity-related health problems.

Should fat people be discriminated against or harassed? Of course not. But people should quit treating obesity as a positive lifestyle choice and start addressing it for what it is - a serious health problem that approaches smoking as the No. 1 cause of preventable death in this country. Who wouldn't choose to be healthier and happier?