I'd just like to address the whole "Being fat/obese is just lazy and people make excuses about it" thing. There are quite a few obese/fat people that would love to lose weight and are more than willing to put in the time/effort, but simply can't.
I mean there are only so many hours in a day, just from what I've seen personally from older people in the office people who genuinely would like to work, out and in their "younger" days were actually fit, and athletes and what not simply can't, because they have no time to do so.
They work anywhere from 40-90 hours a week(depending on department and whether it's tax season and what not) than they go home to their wife and kids where they have responsibilities as well, whether it be coaching little league, or helping their 'special' child with his school work. Hell some people go right to a second job or to do consulting or taxes on the side.
By the end of the week you are only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night, and have like 4-5 hours of leisurely time just for yourself in an entire week, which isn't really enough time to maintain being healthy,and before you say they should just regulate their diet more, you have to keep in mind to run on like 35 hours of sleep a week for months if not a few years, you have to take in quite a lot of calories.
EDIT: Doesn't really apply to the OP since waffleb's posts seem to indicate her friend is quite young.