Dying to Be Thin (The Truth About Obesity, Part 4)

Tech Central Station ^ | July 22, 2003 | Sandy Szwarc

[Timesink]

Women and girls are bombarded with messages about thinness, ideals of beauty, and ways to lose weight. The average woman sees hundreds of commercials a week, and a Brigham and Women's Hospital study in 2000 found virtually all commercials aimed at girls and women focus on physical attractiveness. A series of studies of media in 1986 led by Brett Silverstein, Ph.D., found diet food advertisements targeting women outnumbered those to men by 63 to 1; and articles dealing with thin body images and diets appeared 96 times in women's magazines to every 8 times in men's.

[Timesink]

This is part four of a ten-part series on the myths and science surrounding obesity. Part One is posted here; Part Two is posted here; Part Three is posted here (and what fun threads they have been!).

[Timesink]

Pinging the rational, intelligent posters, on both sides of the debate, from Threads One, Two and Three. This is a ten-part series on obesity; after part ten is posted, this ping list will be destroyed and not used again. If you want to be removed sooner, just drop me a freepmail.

[dead]

Excuse me. I'm looking for the series of threads where fatties get made fun of and lash out at their insensitive skinny attackers.

Am I in the right place, and will there be snacks?

[11th Earl of Mar]

Tommy Thompson, Bush's Secretary of HHS, claims that 80 percent of all illnesses are due to obesity and lack of excercise.

I think I will believe him and all the mountains of studies that prove that obesity kills.

[Mears]

The sizes of women's clothing has changed over the past 30 years. What is now a 4 used to be an 8,so the sizing means nothing when comparing to years ago.

A 12 years ago is the same as an 8 today.

[Judith Anne]

Please put me on the ping list, if you can. And thanks.

[sinkspur]

And this is the fourth article of four that provides a not-so-subtle excuse for the overweight to remain overweight.

Yes, there are unrealistic expectations among some teenagers about weight, and anorexia is much more widespread than ever.

However, one only has to pass a school to notice that children of all ages are much heavier now than they were when I was in school. Type II diabetes is breaking out among teenagers; such a thing was unheard of 40 years ago.

I'm not as thin as I could be, but I'm healthy and I feel good, and I no longer obsess about weight or food.

That ought to be the goal of any weight loss program, not to get down to some "weight chart" ideal.

[PrincessB]

Actually I'm a 1950'a 12-14 and I bought a size two skirt this weekend.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Shaddup lard butt.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Supporting "acceptance" of obesity is like supporting keeping the SF bath houses open in the 80's. Both were advocated by the people being killed by their own lack of self restraint.

Maybe being fat is nothing to be ashamed of, but is it certainly nothing to be proud of!

Sometimes, society needs to say: "stop eating so much!" and "stop fooling around with so many random partners!"

[Thorondir]

However, one only has to pass a school to notice that children of all ages are much heavier now than they were when I was in school. Type II diabetes is breaking out among teenagers; such a thing was unheard of 40 years ago.

This is true, my lord and pope, sinkspur, but it is all genetics. The space aliens zapped most of the American population with their nefarious genetic-changeo-ray about forty years ago. Now look! Just look at the devastation! But it is all beautiful at the same time. EVERYONE is beautiful, in their own way! Some are even more and MORE beautiful. Everything is happy and good here. Nothing unPC or controversial to bother us or to make us think we are not right about everything we think. I'm OK, you're OK. In fact, YOU are even MORE OK than everyone else. Everyone is more OK than everyone else. Can't we all just get along? Happy happy joy joy!

[LizardQueen]

I'm not as thin as I could be, but I'm healthy and I feel good, and I no longer obsess about weight or food.

That ought to be the goal of any weight loss program, not to get down to some "weight chart" ideal.

Amen to this. I've also stopped worrying about the charts, ever since I lost a lot of weight about 5 years ago, and realized that even though I was running 3 miles a day, lifting weights 3x a week, had a resting pulse that was hardly detectable and blood pressure so low I'd brown out when I stood up the weight charts STILL considered me 35 lbs over my ideal weight. The fact that I could bench-press a piano didn't seem to count. I was solid as a rock, but considered fat by the underwriters.

As far as I'm concerned, health is the name of the game. Eat real food in moderate amounts (not processed crap or the diet drinks that are full of sugar and chemicals), exercise as much as you can, and do what you need to to feel healthy and strong. None of us will ever look like supermodels anyway, so getting all wound up about it isn't going to do any good.

LQ

[Sam Cree]

Cool, another one, thanks.

[Amore]

I'd love to be added to your ping list on this.

When my niece hit her 3rd birthday, suddenly everything was "Barbie, Barbie, Barbie." Her current fav is scrawny Cameron Diaz in Charlie's Angels. Her mother & I try to convince her that Drew Barrymore (figure-wise) is a much better role model.

[SouthParkRepublican]

”The space aliens zapped most of the American population with their nefarious genetic-changeo-ray about forty years ago."

Don’t be an ass… it’s a VLWC to make everyone obese to the point that they qualify for disability. Once on disability and unable to fit through their front door to go to work they will have no choice but to vote for people who will subsidize them.

[Timesink]

Please put me on the ping list, if you can. And thanks.

Okay, you're on the list, but I haven't decided if I'll post the rest of the series, since the author is now pulling an LAT/WP-style whine on us. She appears to want her articles to rot on TCS where nobody will see them.

(I probably will just do the excerpt thing on the rest of them, but GEEZ that sort of thing really annoys me. Why can't she comprehend that posting her stuff here drives traffic to TCS and her other articles?)

[MaryFromMichigan]

On a diet? Go to the paint store. You can get thinner there.
(Say goodnight, Toots)

Thanks for the ping!

[SouthParkRepublican]

By the way Timesink, thanks for the ping on these articles. The threads have been insightful and funny.