In the Fatosphere, Big Is In, or at Least Accepted

The New York Times ^ | January 22, 2008 | RONI CARYN RABIN

[Eric Blair 2084]

For years, health experts have been warning that Americans are too fat, that we exercise too little and eat too much, that our health is in jeopardy.

Blogs written by fat people — and it’s fine to use the word, they say — have multiplied in recent months, filling a virtual soapbox known as the fatosphere, where bloggers calling for fat acceptance challenge just about everything conventional medical wisdom has to say about obesity.

Smart, sassy and irreverent, bloggers with names like Big Fat Deal, FatChicksRule and Fatgrrl (“Now with 50 percent more fat!”) buck anti-obesity sentiment. They celebrate their full figures and call on readers to accept their bodies, quit dieting and get on with life.

The message from the fatosphere is not just that big is beautiful. Many of the bloggers dismiss the “obesity epidemic” as hysteria. They argue that Americans are not that much larger than they used to be and that being fat in and of itself is not necessarily bad for you.

And they reject a core belief that many Americans, including overweight ones, hold dear: that all a fat person needs to do to be thin is exercise more and eat less.

“One of the first obstacles to fat acceptance is breaking down the question of whether being fat is a choice,” Kate Harding, founder of the blog Shapely Prose, said in an interview. “No fat acceptance advocate is saying you should sit around and wildly overeat. What we’re saying is that exercise and a balanced diet do not make everyone thin.”

[The Ghost of Rudy McRomney]

Let us not forget that the Fed changed the definition of “overweight” several years ago.

---

I believe that was when the clintons were still in office. Figures.

[Eric Blair 2084]

Are you saying they rack disiprin?

[steel_resolve]

I totally agree. That’s why I think that the market is going to force the issue sooner rather than later.

[gracesdad]

“Sorry, but I worked for a surgeon who did stomach surgery for obese people. He stated that 99.9% of them had a eating problem....they just won’t put their forks down and they won’t get to moving. He’d done thousands of procedures. It always boils down to choices....nobody made them do it.”

Then he’s part of the problem.

[steel_resolve]

Can you back up that data?

[altura]

Maybe, but if they elect Huckabee, he’ll probably regain the weight and then we’ll have a Fat President.

But if we elect Obama, at least we’ll have a thin president who smokes.

[Eric Blair 2084]

later (Gubmint) has already beat sooner (market), at least when it comes to health insurance on the Government level...Medicaid, Medicare, SCHIP. Everyone is equally screwed.

[Marie2]

“Can you back up that data?”

www.junkfoodscience.com has several article that allude to it.

“Lower deaths (lives saved) associated with being “overweight” (BMI 25-30) = 86,094

Yes, you’re reading that right. Being overweight is actually associated with reduced mortality rates. Being well nourished is healthful. In fact, looking at the data on nonsmokers, ages 29-59, those who are “overweight” or “obese” (BMI 30-35) have 66 to 77% of the mortality risk of government-approved “normal” bodies (BMI 18.5-25). For an average 5’4” woman, that means weighing 145 to 205 pounds is the least risky; for someone 5’11”, the lowest risks are at 172 to 247 pounds.

But being underweight, even after accounting for smoking or illness, is 25% more dangerous than being “normal” weight. And it’s considerably more dangerous when compared to either “overweight” or “obese” (BMI 30-35): 89% to 62%, respectively. After the age of 60, being underweight becomes especially hazardous and is the riskiest of all: almost 200% greater risks than those associated with “normal” weights, 266% greater than “overweight,” 145% more than “obese” (BMI 30-35), and even 29% more than the most extreme obesity (BMI >35). In contrast, obesity only reaches the same risks as underweight among younger ages (25 to 59 years) at the uppermost extremes of BMIs over 35, which represents a mere 8.3% of the population. That’s a far cry from the government’s claim that 66% of us are “too fat.”

While the dangers of underweight are significant, they’ve been largely ignored while the risks of overweight have been greatly overstated. The findings of Flegal and colleagues are nothing new, most of us just haven’t heard the facts before. Of all the body weight studies published in the last half century, about 75% find weight to be irrelevant to health and mortality except at the extremes of BMI, according to Glenn Gaesser of the University of Virginia. . .”

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=042505D

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

It boils down to ingesting more calories than burned. Not really that complex.

[steel_resolve]

Your article references a JAMA article as the basis for it's conclusions. I'm sure you didn't bother to read the JAMA study, so I did it for you. Here is the money paragraph

Using relative risks from the combined survey data, we estimated that 111,909 excess deaths in 2000 (95% CI, 53 754 to 170 064) were associated with obesity (BMI 30) (Figure 2). Of the excess deaths associated with obesity, the majority (82 066 deaths; 95% CI, 44 843 to 119 289) occurred in individuals with BMI 35 or greater.

So yes, there is a very high correlation to a high BMI and an early exit from this world...the article continues...



Of the 111 909 estimated excess deaths associated with obesity (BMI 30), the majority, 84 145 excess deaths, occurred in individuals younger than 70 years. In contrast, of the 33 746 estimated excess deaths associated with underweight, the majority, 26 666 excess deaths, occurred in individuals aged 70 years and older.

You just got served.

[dfwgator]

is it because most of the fat people die before 70? OR is it because people start to lose their appetite in the 60s and start to dwindle?

Probably a combination of both.

[TigersEye]

They argue that Americans are not that much larger than they used to be
and that being fat in and of itself is not necessarily bad for you.

I'm all for people choosing to do what they want, short of violating the rights of others, but when you're wrong you're wrong. There are a lot more fat people now than there used to be. It is true that being fat isn't necessarily bad for you but it quite often is. But that's no one's business but the fat persons. It most emphatically is no business of the government.

[Nathan Jr.]

how many fat people do you see who are 70 years old or more?

Good point. Come to think of it, there are lots of "little old ladies" but not many big ones.

[ichabod1]

I agree that you can always out-eat an exercise program. Easily. In fact, that may be one of the more self-defeating myths out there... that if I exercise hard enough I can eat whatever I want.

My life is spent in a struggle not to eat too much, too often. I’ve recently realized that that’s not likely to change too much. And I don’t know which side is going to prevail.

[ichabod1]

nice

[ichabod1]

Down in Jamaica they loooove the fat girls. Fat means rich. Skinny girls got to pay.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[boop]

"You have to ask yourself this question, how many fat people do you see who are 70 years old or more?"

Fat and 70 yes, lots. Fat and 80 not so much. Obese is a whole other story. Not many 400 pound people around to see 60. Off the subject a little bit, but you hardly ever see very tall old people either. One time I saw an ex NBA player in his 80's as a patient. He was still about 6'10 and his legs were hanging off the end of the gurney.

[boop]

"But if we elect Obama, at least we’ll have a thin president who smokes."

Smokers are thinner anyway. Fashion models are huge smokers. Well, they have a tendency to use cocaine too, but.....

[dfwgator]

Off the subject a little bit, but you hardly ever see very tall old people either.

Yep, makes me especially worried about Shaq. If he packs on the pounds once he stops playing, I don't know how his heart is going to make it. Even Wilt Chamberlain didn't make it out of his 60s.