Posted on 04/27/2005 5:50:02 AM PDT by FlyLow
Obesity is an epidemic in this country. At least four hundred thousand Americans die of it every year. Soon, being fat will overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
That's what the Centers for Disease Control told us just last year. Politicians, celebrities and other public scolds immediately set about lecturing the rest of us about our chronic, repulsive weight problems.
Well, guess what? It was all a lie. According to a new federal study released this week, moderately fat people live longer than those of normal weight. In other words, being fashionably thin isn't the same as being healthy. As for those hundreds of thousands of overweight dead people, they don't exist. Obesity actually kills only about 26,000 Americans a year. Far fewer than alcohol and car crashes.
But don't expect the government to tell you any of this. Although the CDC concedes its original numbers were completely bogus inflated by a factor of 15 it does not plan to correct them in its public awareness campaigns.
But wait. Shouldn't scientists confine themselves to the facts? Sure. But the campaign against obesity was never just about science. It was about religion. And social class. And pure, old fashioned snobbery. In America, being fat isn't simply a health concern. It's a faux pas, an offense against good taste. Possibly even a sin.
Fat people have no self control. No self-respect. They're lazy and shiftless and dumb. They shop at WalMart and live in unfashionable places.
These are the things that every upper-middle class opinion maker knows about fat people. Attacking them is a guilt-free exercise in moral superiority.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
My doctor told me last week that the upper limit for the fasting glucose test has just been dropped by 5 points... So the Dr.'s can ensure a steady stream of scared patients and keep ripping off the insurance companies. A couple of years ago I got a non-fasting test and was told I was OK. That was December. In January I returned to get the stitches out of my original wound and was told I had diabetes. As of JAN 1 the limit had dropped and I was told about all the money I could spend with the Dr. treating this horrible disease. I told him to kiss my diabetic @ss, I'll treat it when he takes my toes off.
I have the total opposite situation to the one you lived through. I'm 5'10" and the most I have ever weighed in my life was 165 and that was 3 days before I gave birth. I was back down below 125 at my 6 week check up. And I have never dieted in my life, I eat what I want, when I want, and how much I want.
I have been on the receiving of the supposedly good natured jokes about anorexics - so I sympathize with those on the other end of the spectrum.
Kids just about can't "go out and play" because it's not safe to do so, even in one's own yard!
Both.
If we really want to examine the statistics, how do we count the fatty who smokes and dies after suffering a heart attack while driving drunk?
The one death gets listed in 5 categories - smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption, motor vehicle and drinking driving.
That's right - the 1 death will be added to the stats of at least 5 different categories.
Actually, IMO, a grain of salt is too mild a description.
I agree, I used that sort of tongue-in-cheek because of the "accociation" of salt intake with hypertension.
I think most studies, and also polls, have an agenda and it's not usually the one put forward. Sometimes their function is to gather cheap publicity or grants, sometimes the function is political, sometimes I guess it's even legitimate.
That, IMO, is it in a nutshell, particularly the idea of further grants. The publicity helps them to get more. Those doing legitimate research get lost in the noise; because so much is so bogus there is much hesitancy in accepting any.
I'm sorry you have chosen not to teach - you would obviously be an asset to your district.
However, going into business for yourself is a good thing - I did it for nearly 20 years.
Oh heavens! How narrow-minded of you. Science that deals only in facts is so old-fashioned. It's far better to pay scientists who are political activists in lab coats. That helps us all, don't you think? </sarcasm>
You've got that all down right.
I won't totally blame the schools for all the problems because in the end it is the parents who have the ultimate voice in what is happening. Complacency on the part of parents basically allows the schools to do as they wish.
Involved parents can and do make changes. I know this because I accomplished a change just this week with a single in person conversation and a single telephone call.
Thank you for the confidence vote.
I have taught sunday school, and summer school. So my abilities have not gone completely to waste.
.....I can't tell you how many clients who have lost considerable weight also lowered their HBP, got their diabetes, sleep apnea etc under control......
Me for one.
The second very important factor in addition to weight loss is excercise. A gain of as few as five pounds above the magic weight number will trigger all of the above and once it is passed on the down side....they go away.
Good to hear!!!!!!
The medical industry also relies on the cookie cutter BMI. What does that say about someone who is 6' 215# and 11% body fat? So according to the bureaucrats, I'm supposedly at risk! (The same bureaucrats who say bicycling is not exercise)
In the study, a BMI between 25 and 30 was "moderately fat".
Absolutely, involved parents is key. I wonder how many fat kids you see in families that do activities together (camping/hiking/biking/whatever).
The schools could help, but it's not really their job. I'm a health and biology teacher (certified in TX to teach PE but didn't ever teach it and don't really want to). I tried to do some real world things so the kids could get an idea of what constitutes a healthy diet and exercise. But they don't care. They think they are invincible, and that they can deal with it later.
Interestingly, to me, they don't think they are fat. Anyone who looks around will see plenty of girls with short tops, skin tight pants that are so low with the flabby bellies hanging over (we used to call that dunlaps disease!) and they think they look great! I cannot figure it out. Do they not own mirrors? Do their mothers and fathers just look the other way? Have they not a single friend who will be honest with them?
susie
Heck, when I was 12, I used to get on the bus and go to Detroit to go see movies at the Ren Cen or to got to the Detroit Art Institute.
I think I would faint if my daughter did that now.
Gee my babies are all in their 20s and I think I would be petrified if they went to Detroit at all!
susie
Well, it was a different time, then.
I hung around Greek Town, back when it was still a quiet neighborhood full of actual Greeks ( Ah,,, I can still taste the pastries at the Astoriaa bakery!)
And I hung around the museums.
It's not like i was wandering around Cass Corridor by myself! LOL!
The difference is that their bellys are exposed, low-riders
I expect to see cases of belly frostbite.
Most girls I knew growing up (including me) did not have fat bellies when we were teens. Women tend to gain in the hips/thighs first, men tend to gain around the middle. I see less difference among teens today between the sexes regarding where they carry their fat.
But I do agree we are seeing way more of their flabby bodies than many of us would like.
susie
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