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!".
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
I think that fat deaths aren't going up, smoking deaths are just going down.
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!
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.
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.
I don't know any skinny people with Type II diabetes...
"... According to a new federal study released this week, moderately fat people live longer than those of normal weight. ..."
The federal guidelines for "normal weight" are too low!!! Those "moderately fat people" are the normal ones.
According to a new federal study released this week, moderately fat people live longer than those of normal weight.
Of course, "moderately fat" is not defined. Is it 10% above normal weight? 20% above normal weight? Who the heck knows? Therefore, this article is totally worthless and even dangerous as it will be used by people to justify being obese. And that's a shame.
I speak as one who used to be obese and when I was obese, I looked for every excuse in the book to justify the way I was. It was "in my genes." I had a "low metabolism." I was "allergic to exercise."
I was developing Type II diabetes, hypertension and heart disease and none of that had any effect on my deciding to lose weight. What made me decide to lose weight in the end was shame. I was ashamed of the way I looked and decided to make a change. So while I have a special sensitivity towards obese people and would never think of belittling or "shaming" them, I must say that had I myself never been at the receiving end of the jokes and insults (even the ones that were good-natured), I probably never would have been motivated to take the weight off.
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>
