While I'd love nothing more than for her to turn her life around and start dropping hundreds of pounds, that's not going to happen. She knows she's not going to be anywhere near as relevant or popular if she drops a single pound. If she had a dynamic personality and was a generally charismatic person that people would enjoy listening to and being around post weight loss, then I could see it being a great way for her to stay in the limelight and remain popular. But she's got a personality that's even more revolting than her appearance, so that's not gonna happen.  She'd much rather eat her way into an early grave than live to see her son graduate high school.  Edit: BTW, you've asked some very valid questions and I don't see why you'd be downvoated here. I see no fat sympathy at all, so you're not breaking any rules, either!