The obesity myth

JWR ^ | 4-27-05 | Tucker Carlson

[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.

[freebird5850]

An overweight man tells his friend, "Scientists have determined that obesity is caused by a virus". The friend replies, "Man you sure must have to eat a lot of them!".

[brytlea]

I think we need to be concerned about people who are fat from childhood into adulthood. I would like to see studies on THAT. Sure, a few extra lbs isn't probably going to kill anyone (and some people are thin because of health issues that keep them from gaining weight).
HOWEVER look at kids and teens today. Anyone with eyeballs can see that they are carrying more wieght that the average kid did 20 or 30 years ago. And, I have noticed many more girls are carrying it around their bellies. I wonder what the long term health consequences will be.
No reason to panic, but certainly, parents should be looking at what their kids are eating, and how much activity they are getting.
susie

[ReeWalker]

HOWEVER look at kids and teens today. Anyone with eyeballs can see that they are carrying more wieght that the average kid did 20 or 30 years ago.

That's because alot of kids today don't know what it is to "go outside and play".

[brytlea]

That's because alot of kids today don't know what it is to "go outside and play".
Absolutely. And, they consume alot more junk calories per day than we did. I suspect we are going to see a huge jump in the numbers of people with diabetes and such when this particular generation hits 40.
susie

[tiamat]

These days you don't dare send them out to play!

So they sit inside, unless you get them onto a sports team or something like swimming or soccer.

[jtminton]

fat will overtake smoking

I think that fat deaths aren't going up, smoking deaths are just going down.

[Alberta's Child]

Soon, being fat will overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

What the heck is a "leading cause of preventable death?"

One of the things nobody mentions in these discussions about health-related issues is that something has to be the "leading" cause of death!

[Delphinium]

What I am noticing is that children are getting so much bigger. Not just fatter, but taller, bigger feet etc.

Is it because of all the stuff they grow the meat, milk, and vegatables with?

[Delphinium]

go outside and play

or work?

[PLOM...NOT!]

Final line from the article omitted ....But it looks like fat people will have the last laugh. They'll live longer. And good for them. After all the abuse they've taken, they deserve it.

[petercooper]

go outside and play??

But, the food is inside.

[Sam Cree]

I agree with the thrust of this article, that bureaucracy will regard obesity as just another means of expanding its power and reach - in other words, the real obesity problem is with the size of government.

I note, though, that Carlson uses one government study to refute another, which means that any observations on health in this article also have no particular validity. "Moderately overweight" and "normal weight" are not defined either. What does he (they?) even mean by those terms?

I will say that I have a couple female acquaintances who literally starve themselves to look thin. Neither seems healthy, though one has lived into her 80's. The other is in her 50's, but looks older.

I'm not going to take the state's word for it that being overweight is healthy.

[Gabz]

I agree with the thrust of this article, that bureaucracy will regard obesity as just another means of expanding its power and reach - in other words, the real obesity problem is with the size of government.

DING DING DING - we have a WINNER!!!!!!!!

I have practically gotten to the point where I regard these so-called "studies" with a grain of salt.

[keats5]

I don't know about kids eating more junk food. My sister and I learned that if you took the bottles from the back of our local store to the cashier, she would give you the bottle deposit money. Thus, we found an endless supply of petty cash for our life sustenance: mallo cups and snickers bars, washed down with pop. Yet, I was skinny as they come.

Of course, I had to ride my bike to the store.

Now we have suburban sprawl, and fewer sidewalks. Until my kids were teens, I hated to even let them take a walk or ride their bikes, because without sidewalks they were dodging cars. (We live on a busy road, and although the sign says 35 mph, 45-50 seem the norm.)

My other theory is that Americans got fat when they quit smoking. Of course, the crack-heads remain fashionably thin.

[Bob]

Absolutely. And, they consume alot more junk calories per day than we did. I suspect we are going to see a huge jump in the numbers of people with diabetes and such when this particular generation hits 40.

I don't think you're going to have to wait that long. My doctor told me last week that the upper limit for the fasting glucose test has just been dropped by 5 points (from 105 to 100, IIRC). Those 'normal' 101's and 102's of last year aren't now considered normal.

Lord only knows what they've done with the A1C (long-term) glucose test. A few years ago, I dropped 50 pounds with a corresponding drop in my A1C results. Unfortunately, they were dropping the limit faster than I was dropping my level. As soon as I'd get below the old limit, they'd drop the limit again.

[mewzilla]

I don't know any skinny people with Type II diabetes...

[Gabz]

My other theory is that Americans got fat when they quit smoking. Of course, the crack-heads remain fashionably thin.

ROFL!!!!!!

[Mr. Blonde]

"Not just fatter, but taller, bigger feet etc."

Bigger feet? We know where your mind is.

[television is just wrong]

Diabetes is already at epidemic levels. It will surpass todays levels though, because the schools provide nothing but junk food for lunch, and sodas out of the machines.

I know a lot of teens that have had to have their gall bladders out as early as 15.