Posted on 06/19/2002 11:21:13 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:54:50 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
An abiding weakness of the conventional wisdom is that, once a supposed fact has become part of that wisdom, it becomes almost impossible to dislodge it.
Contemporary journalism contributes to this problem by relying on technologies that help ensure an assertion, once it is repeated enough times, will never be checked against the actual evidence. Consider for example the claim that fat kills 300,000 Americans per year, and is thus the nation's second leading cause of premature death, trailing only cigarettes. A Lexis database search reveals that this "fact" has been repeated in more than one thousand news stories over the past three years alone. Yet the evidence for this claim is so slim as to be practically nonexistent.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
After calculating the death risk associated with various weight levels derived from six epidemiological studies, the authors employed the following assumption: "Our calculations assume that all excess mortality in obese people is due to their [obesity]"
Journalists in particular ought to start noticing that fact, rather than endlessly reprinting the same piece of junk science.
Sound familiar people?
If you'd read the article, you'd know that the research doesn't agree with you. There is undoubtedly a correlation between the two, but not to the extent you claim.
Or maybe the rest of the article had too many big words in it and you gave up after reading that far.
Sheesh.
Good thing for you the airlines don't charge morons and bigots extra to fly.
Funny, it's the same with smoking, but nobody listens.
As I have asked before, where would you draw the line, Aids sufferers, Alcoholics, druggies, let's face it most of our illnesses are selfinflicted, are you sure you are living such a perfect life as not to have any medical bills. ?
Jolly fat people.
Walt
The fact that food is plentiful and cheap is a bigger factor. The biggest factor is likely inactivity. Most of us sit and work. The percentage of people who sit and work is increasing in the age of the computer.
We have been told that eating the wrong food and sitting on our butts makes us fat. That's bad for our health. Now some other "expert" claims the opposite. Who do you believe? I was a paramedic at one point in my life and I can tell you overweight people tend to die sooner and have more health problems. It's a fact. But I don't believe the nanny state should stick their nose in anyone's business and tell them how to eat or behave.
Finally, did my comments strike a nerve?
There are a lot more sedentary thin people than you think. And likewise, there are lots of active fat people.
Apparently, there are other factors at play.
As a paramedic, you were exposed to a subset of the population, those who were in need of medical care. From that you have drawn conclusions that are not entirely true.
You must be a fatso.
I never said anything about being "food police." I merely think people should possess knowledge. Or are you opposed to knowledge? Ignorance is bliss, hey? And ignorance is much easier to control....
[There is] a strong association between the prevalence of obesity and cardio vascular disease risk factors…
the prevalence of hypertension (blood pressure greater than 160/95) is 2.9 times higher for the overweight than for the nonoverweight. The prevalence is 5.6 times higher for the young (20 through 44 years old) overweight than for the nonoverweight subjects in this age group. The prevalence is twice as high for the obese older (45 through 74 years old) group as it is for the nonoverweight subjects of the same age.
The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia(blood cholesterol over 250 mg/dl) in the young overweight age group is 2.1 times that of the nonoverweight group; overweight and nonoverweight subjects show similar prevalences for hypercholesterolemia after age 45.
The prevalence of reported diabetes is 2.9 times higher in overweight than nonoverweight persons…
there is a positive relationship of obesity to the risk of coronary artery heart disease…
Obese males, regardless of smoking habits, had a higher mortality from cancer of the colon, rectum, and prostate. Obese females had a higher mortality from cancer of the gallbladder, biliary passages, breast (postmenopausal), uterus (including both cervix and endometrium), and ovaries. In the case of endometrial cancer, women with marked obesity showed the highest relative risk (5.4) for the obese versus the nonobese.
I agree. No one should tell you how or what to eat. But I am amazed how ignorant people can be----they are clueless as to the absence of nutrional value in the food they feed their kids and themselves. As a former teacher, I saw kids come to school with home packed lunches consisting of Twinkies, a candy bar, and chocolate milk. When we had a nutrition class, parents were literally shocked.
It's about education. The medical community has long been silent on nutrition and preventitive medicine. It is only recently that some doctors are starting to teach their patients about nutrition. Maybe that is because it is relatively recently that a class in nutrition has become required in order to get an MD. MD's have generally focused on disease or "dis" ease, not on health.
It's not about being a policeman, it's about education, realization and accepting responsibility.
There sure are a lot of fat old ladies around. My grandmother is 89 years old and she has been fat all her life. Furthermore, she has been up at 4:30 in the morning making biscuits, bacon, eggs and gravy for over 70 years now. Don't see a lot of fat old men though. Guess that means I ought to take a few pounds off while my wife gets to stay as fat as she wants. Bummer.
Since somebody mentioned the airlines in this thread, might as well throw my two cents in. I think airlines should charge by the pound. Passengers should get on a scale and pay XX amount per pound, depending on how far they will be flying that day. That would solve a lot of problems and those weigh a lot will be charged enough money to warrant two seats.
I don't want to sit next to fat people on the airplane and I sure as hell don't want to sit next to myself either. Not until I take a few pounds off, anyhow.
Speaking of fast food, it's not the fast food that does me in but the slow food.
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