BLEH, I apologize. I was typing a reply to you last night, and in the middle of it...passed out cold. I woke up on the floor. It's, uh, been a long week. And still the weekend to go. Shoot me, please?
I had enough presence of mind to save what I was writing, so here we go.
*
Actually, I am far less inclined to believe these days that weight is much of a health risk at all.
A few months back, Scientific American Reports did a big story on the claims of books like The Obesity Myth. (Have you heard of/read that one?) Their conclusion: said claims are more truthful than they are out to lunch. Assuming I'm remembering this all correctly enough (I hope I am):
-Nearly all so-called "obesity experts" run weight-loss clinics, and they have huge influence in the narrow field of "obesity research." -Even studies funded by the weight-loss industry do not tend to find more than minimal differences in health risks between those with "healthy" BMIs, "overweight" BMIs, and "obese" BMIs. -The studies that appear to find a difference worth noting don't control for diet, exercise, etc. When various factors are controlled for, weight itself appears to have almost no statistically significant negative impact on health whatsoever. -The BMIs at which there finally appears to be a [small] health risk due to weight: around 34 for whites, 38 for blacks. (How many people do YOU know with a BMI of 34? That's a very small portion of the population!) -HOWEVER, there IS a statistically significant health risk for those with a BMI below 20 or so. Even the studies that are funded by the weight-loss industry find this risk. And yet, the lower bracket for "healthy" is set at 18.5. (Although I've actually noticed recently that some sources have raised that lower bar. Which is interesting.) -All of your own last sentence there as well. Plus people in the "overweight" range recover faster from illnesses requiring hospitalization, and are less likely to die in the hospital.
...Basically, the data used to support the idea that being overweight OR obese is unhealthy is cherry-picked, exaggerated and even outright LIED about.
(I can't personally find any other explanation for the 18.5/20 BMI discrepancy besides plain lying about study results. And that both freaks me out and pisses me off.)
I agree with the first sentence of your second comment: the main health issues are diet - eating healthier, not necessarily less - and exercise. But we're all probably less inclined to eat well and exercise than we would be otherwise, because those things are tied so tightly to the concept of losing weight: something for which I think virtually everyone in North America has emotional baggage.
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Re:
Date: 2007-07-28 07:56 am (UTC)And still the weekend to go. Shoot me, please?I had enough presence of mind to save what I was writing, so here we go.
*
Actually, I am far less inclined to believe these days that weight is much of a health risk at all.
A few months back, Scientific American Reports did a big story on the claims of books like The Obesity Myth. (Have you heard of/read that one?) Their conclusion: said claims are more truthful than they are out to lunch. Assuming I'm remembering this all correctly enough (I hope I am):
-Nearly all so-called "obesity experts" run weight-loss clinics, and they have huge influence in the narrow field of "obesity research."
-Even studies funded by the weight-loss industry do not tend to find more than minimal differences in health risks between those with "healthy" BMIs, "overweight" BMIs, and "obese" BMIs.
-The studies that appear to find a difference worth noting don't control for diet, exercise, etc. When various factors are controlled for, weight itself appears to have almost no statistically significant negative impact on health whatsoever.
-The BMIs at which there finally appears to be a [small] health risk due to weight: around 34 for whites, 38 for blacks. (How many people do YOU know with a BMI of 34? That's a very small portion of the population!)
-HOWEVER, there IS a statistically significant health risk for those with a BMI below 20 or so. Even the studies that are funded by the weight-loss industry find this risk. And yet, the lower bracket for "healthy" is set at 18.5. (Although I've actually noticed recently that some sources have raised that lower bar. Which is interesting.)
-All of your own last sentence there as well. Plus people in the "overweight" range recover faster from illnesses requiring hospitalization, and are less likely to die in the hospital.
...Basically, the data used to support the idea that being overweight OR obese is unhealthy is cherry-picked, exaggerated and even outright LIED about.
(I can't personally find any other explanation for the 18.5/20 BMI discrepancy besides plain lying about study results. And that both freaks me out and pisses me off.)
I agree with the first sentence of your second comment: the main health issues are diet - eating healthier, not necessarily less - and exercise. But we're all probably less inclined to eat well and exercise than we would be otherwise, because those things are tied so tightly to the concept of losing weight: something for which I think virtually everyone in North America has emotional baggage.