Study: Most Will Be Fat Over the Long Haul

ap on Yahoo ^ | 10/3/05 | Alex Dominguez - ap

[NormsRevenge]

BALTIMORE - Just when we thought we couldn't get any fatter, a new study that followed Americans for three decades suggests that over the long haul, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.

Even if you are one of the lucky few who made it to middle age without getting fat, don't congratulate yourself — keep watching that waistline.

Half of the men and women in the study who had made it well into adulthood without a weight problem ultimately became overweight. A third of those women and a quarter of the men became obese.

"You cannot become complacent, because you are at risk of becoming overweight," said Ramachandran Vasan, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University and the study's lead author.

He and other researchers studied data gathered from 4,000 white adults over 30 years. Participants were between the ages of 30 and 59 at the start, and were examined every four years. By the end of the study, more than 1 in 3 had become obese.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, show obesity may be a greater problem than indicated by studies that look at a cross-section of the population at one point in time. Those so-called "snapshots" of obesity have found about 6 in 10 are overweight and about 1 in 3 are obese, Vasan said.

The findings also re-emphasize that people must continually watch their weight, Vasan said.

The research subjects were the children of participants in the long-running and often-cited Framingham Heart Study, which has been following the health of generations of Massachusetts residents.

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which supported the study, said the findings show "we could have an even more serious degree of overweight and obesity over the next few decades."

Susan Bartlett, an assistant professor of medicine and an obesity researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the study was one of the first to look at the risk of becoming overweight.

"The results are pretty sobering, really," said Bartlett, who was not involved in the research.

While the health risks of being obese are much more severe than being overweight, those who are overweight are much more likely to go on to become obese, Bartlett said.

The study shows Americans live in an "environment in which it's hard not to become overweight or obese. Unless people actively work against that, that's what's most likely to happen to them."

Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and arthritis, and being overweight raises blood pressure and cholesterol, which in turn can raise the risk of heart disease.

The number of deaths linked to obesity has been heavily debated. Earlier this year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said obesity caused only about 25,814 deaths annually in the United States — far fewer than the 365,000 deaths the agency had earlier reported. Other scientists have disagreed with the revised conclusion, while organizations representing the food and restaurant industry think weight-related ills have been overstated.

As for the Framingham study, Mark Vander Weg, a Mayo Clinic psychologist who researches obesity but was not involved in the study, said it is one of a few to track a group of individuals over an extended period.

"What's particularly concerning is that these results actually may underestimate the risk of becoming overweight or obese among the general population" because minorities, who are at increased risk for obesity, were not included in the study, Vander Weg said.

Recent trends also suggest that people currently coming into middle age may be even more likely to become overweight or obese than those who were studied, Vander Weg said.

While more studies that include more diverse populations are needed, he said, the results "add to a growing body of evidence that makes it increasingly apparent that more effective prevention and treatment strategies are urgently needed."

[NormsRevenge]

eat drink recycle

[A Longer Name]

OVERWEIGHT: Barry Bonds: 6'2": 228 lbs: 29 David Boreanaz: 6'2": 218 lbs: 28 Tom Brady: 6'4": 225 lbs: 27 President Bush: 5'11": 191 lbs: 26 George Clooney: 5'11": 211 lbs: 29 Nic Cage: 6'1": 210 lbs: 28 Matt Damon: 5'11": 187 lbs: 26 Johnny Depp: 5'7": 190 lbs: 27 David Duchovny: 6'0": 212 lbs: 29 Vin Diesel: 6'2": 200 lbs: 26 Cheryl Ford: 6'3": 215 lbs:27 Harrison Ford: 6'1": 218 lbs: 29 Brendan Fraser: 6'3": 234 lbs: 29 Richard Gere: 5'11": 187 lbs: 26 Ethan Hawke: 5'9": 172 lbs: 25 Hugh Jackman: 6'2": 210 lbs: 27 Lebron James: 6'8": 240 lbs: 26 Dale Jarrett: 6'2": 200 lbs: 26 Bobby Labonte: 5'9": 170 lbs: 25 Nick Lachey: 5'10": 180 lbs: 26 Karl Malone: 6'9": 259 lbs: 28 Dr. Phil McGraw: 6'4": 240 lbs: 29 Mark McGuire (playing weight): 6'5": 250 lbs: 30 Donovan McNabb: 6'3": 240 lbs: 30 Yao Ming: 7'6": 310 lbs: 27 Brad Pitt: 6'0": 203 lbs: 28 Keanu Reeves: 6'1": 223 lbs: 29 Cal Ripken: 6'4": 210 lbs: 27 Andy Roddick: 6'2": 197 lbs: 25 Will Smith: 6'2": 210 lbs: 27 Sammy Sosa: 6'0": 220 lbs: 30 Denzel Washington: 6'0": 199 lbs: 27 Bruce Willis: 6'0": 200 lbs: 29 Billy Zane: 6'2": 210 lbs: 27

OBESE: Tom Cruise: 5'7": 201 lbs: 31 Mel Gibson 5'9": 214 pounds: 32 Matt LeBlanc: 5'11": 218 lbs: 30 Steve McNair: 6'2": 235 lbs: 30 The Rock (Dwayne Johnson): 6'5": 275 lbs: 33 Arnold Schwarzenegger: 6'2": 257 lbs: 33 Sylvester Stallone: 5'9": 228 lbs: 34 Mike Tyson: 5'11 ½": fighting weight between 218-235: 30-32

* All height and weight measurements were obtained through an online compendium of actor data, celebrity promotional materials, and official athletic figures found through ESPN. ( Source)

[dawn53]

So thin is in, but if you go back to the 50's and before, what they considered thin and what we considered thin are two different things. A Rubinesque figure would today be considered obese.

I personally think we put on some weight as we age as a natural preventative against inevitable loss of weight in advanced senior years. (I'm not talking about morbid obesity, but "padding.")

Also a little extra weight cushions an older person when they fall.

Both my MIL and FIL began to lose weight as their health failed. My FIL faired much better because he had some extra lbs to lose, my MIL was rail thin and with every illness just became weaker and weaker.

[Cobra64]

BALTIMORE - Just when we thought we couldn't get any fatter, a new study that followed Americans for three decades suggests that over the long haul, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.

Not in our family. And we eat artichokes soaked in garlic-butter, prime rib, mashed potatoes dripping in gravy, spinach salad with virgin olive oil and cider vinegar. Filet mignon, corn in butter, lobster, Alaskan King Crab in drawn butter with salt. Desert is Breyers ice crem adorned with Creme Boulet and blueberry/apple pie. Then a glass of brandy and a Lucky Strike, or a cigar.

Both Karen and I weigh almost exactly what we weighed when we met 36 years ago at the University of Denver in Denver, CO.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Tom Cruise: 5'7": 201 lbs: 31

Great flying DingDongs!

[dead]

“these results actually may underestimate the risk of becoming overweight or obese among the general population”

OK, how about 12 out of 10 people are too fat?

Is that hysterical enough for you?

[SF Republican]

I lost 10 lbs - "look behind you, you'll find it"

[MD_Willington_1976]

I like a Rubinesque figure...and I was born in the 70's...

[DumpsterDiver]

Is that hysterical enough for you?

One can never be too hysterical.

"You cannot become complacent, because you are at risk of becoming overweight," said Ramachandran Vasan,

[dead]

I like a Rubinesque figure...and I was born in the 70's...

Yikes! Most babies don't even weigh ten pounds!

[Chickensoup]

Overweight does not mean obese.

[SouthernFreebird]

Call me overweight but I'm not going for the hollywood look. They take a beautiful woman and suck her down to the bone, they look disgusting. None of the old pin up girls would make it by todays standards.

[MD_Willington_1976]

My daughter was 9 & 3/4 pounds when she was born 2 months ago...My wife is bigger than she wants to be but I like her curves...

[speekinout]

I was in WVA last week-end (the fattest state in the nation), and I could sure see some reasons for all the fat people (and there were a lot of very fat people!).
We stopped at a couple of restaurants that had "all you can eat" buffets for about $12. The food was ample, and not all of it was particularly fattening - plenty of vegetables and salads.
And the best of all for me was that the average warm brownie with ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry cost $1.95. (I'm used to seeing those cost $5.95)

People are fat when food is cheap. We would be a lot thinner if food was more expensive and harder to get.

[Max in Utah]

People are fat when food is cheap. We would be a lot thinner if food was more expensive and harder to get.

Good point. I would guess that America is the first nation in the history of the world to have generally overweight poor people.

[speekinout]

I would guess that America is the first nation in the history of the world to have generally overweight poor people.

I think that's so. I definitely wouldn't prefer a society where poor people starve, but our obesity rates aren't good, either. There isn't a good answer to this one.

[editor-surveyor]

When will the propaganda end. The people whom they are calling overweight ar the healthiest people on earth. If nothing else, it is good insurance against Alzheimers to keep your weight 50 lbs over the quack's charts.

This is just another way to get people to kill themselves with prescription drugs.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Let's not kid ourselves that just because the crude obesity index gives bad results for heavily muscled athletes, that we can feel comfortable with high BMI numbers.

The Lardasshians know who they are, and know that they need to eat less and exercise more. (And if they want some good advice, they will ignore the "fat-free" hype, and instead avoid sugar and lots of starches).

We are indeed becoming a nation of Jumbotrons, let's not deny it.

[ladyinred]

I heard this on the SEEBS radio news and got the best laugh of the day over it!

[Atlas Sneezed]

I personally think we put on some weight as we age as a natural preventative against inevitable loss of weight in advanced senior years.

---

I'd call that wishful thinking. We tend to put on weight when we age because we adopt a different health life style, becoming more sedentary.

Being skinny is the best way to live a long time. You notice how when they interview the 100-year-old man or lady that it's never a chubby person who lives that long?