Obese people more likely to die in car crashes

New Scientist ^ | March 2, 2002 | Kurt Kleiner

[RipSawyer]

I understand your comments about BMI and fat percentage, I used to work out religiously myself. My question though is whether the extra weight is that much less dangerous in a crash. I am sure you are better off with an extra forty pounds of muscle that with the same amount of extra fat but it still may be worse in a crash than being on the skinny side. I am six four and two hundred and forty pounds myself. I don't have a lot of fat on me but I can still attest that I am more likely to be hurt in a fall or a crash than someone who is the same height and only weighs one hundred and ninety.

[SarahW]

I don't think the story was "He split as a watermelon would if a watermelon were dropped from 6-inches" However, I can clearly recount an episode where I cracked a ripe watermelon open from that height when I was trying to get it into the produce bin of my refrigerator. What a mess. Besides, I'll hazard that the unfortunate man was somewhat taller and heavier than a watermelon, and that the forces involved would indeed result in more severe damage to heavy jello in a stretched membrane, than to a wiry geezer dropped from a greater height.

[SarahW]

I don't think the story was "He split as a watermelon would if a watermelon were dropped from 6-inches" However, I can clearly recount an episode where I cracked a ripe watermelon open from that height when I was trying to get it into the produce bin of my refrigerator. What a mess. Besides, I'll hazard that the unfortunate man was somewhat taller and heavier than a watermelon, and that the forces involved would indeed result in more severe damage to heavy jello in a stretched membrane, than to a wiry geezer dropped from a greater height.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[PLK]

Or obese people, with health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes, could be finding it tougher to recover from injury

As a nurse, it is my opinion that the answer lies somewhere in this sentence; their obesity and the problems that come with it complicate recovery. I used to work in Neurology/Neurosurgery. It is simply much harder to care for and move the very obese - therefore, they are susceptible to a much greater degree to all the medical complications that can occur after a severe injury. Many develop pneumonia, open sores, & deadly blood clots simply because of immobility. Also, it is more difficult and complicated to extricate an obese person from a wreck. A large person who is not obese is more physically fit, they can help themselves more. This does not apply in every situation, but in enough to alter statistics.

In a short-staffed hospital or rehab center, experienced nurses begin to understand that they cannot sacrifice their own health, especially back health, to move very obese patients. If help is not available, the obese person simply does not get the treatment that requires movement, or get moved at all. There are horrendous consequences to the nursing shortage.

Everybody ready to start that diet? I recommend the Atkins plan. ;^)

[DainBramage]

Eat a carrot..Hoa!

[justshutupandtakeit]

Fat kills undoubtably but I don't believe that story. Watermelons can split from a small fall but don't do so in such a manner as described for Uncle Fatty.

If such were the case then the NFL would have a spat of busted up linemen loosing their guts. And some of these enormous pro westlers would be endangered.

How could Suma wrestlers survive more than one fall? Some silly stuff.

[the]

Funny how this dovetails with another recent FR thread:

Stars of Final Four Are 'Overweight,' According to Government

CNSNews.com | 3/28/02 | Lawrence Morahan

Posted on 3/28/02 6:28 AM Eastern by kattracks

(CNSNews.com) - Pound for pound, 16 of the best basketball players in college athletics are overweight, according to federal government standards.

College basketball stars Lonny Baxter of Maryland, Aaron McGhee of Oklahoma, Nick Collision of Kansas, and Tom Coverdale of Indiana exceed what the U.S. government considers a healthy weight for men of their height, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) reports.

These and 12 other stars of the National Collegiate Athletic Association are the victims of "a bizarre government weight measurement definition that gives new meaning to 'March Madness,'" said Mike Burita, a spokesman for CCF, a coalition of restaurant and tavern proprietors opposed to government taxes on foods.

In 1998, the U.S. Government changed the standards by which body mass index is measured. As a result, close to 30 million Americans were shifted from a government-approved weight to the overweight and obese category, without gaining an ounce, Burrita said.

The NCAA players are in good company: athletic starts Michael Jordan and Cal Ripken Jr. are overweight also, according to the standards.

(continues...)

[Ward Smythe]

Mock speculates that car interiors might not be suitably designed for heavy people.

I've been gravitationally challenged my whole life. About six years ago my son and I were in an accident in my Honda Civic (hatchback). We were broadsided by a maintenance truck (my fault), knocked across the median and into oncoming traffic. The car was totaled. My son (seven at the time was saved because he was riding in the back). I had some scrapes and bruises, but there's little reason either of us should have come out alive. Now, I was working out daily at the time (that sort of cut that off for a while, okay for good...). But I wasn't in "great" shape.

I did, however, have a "perfect" seatbelt bruise and the Dr. asked to take a picture for her med students.

But that's just me and we were very fortunate.

[headsonpikes]

Am I the only guy wondering why there is ANY government involvement with making up this bogus crap about mass/weight ratios blah blah blah?

I suggest dropping this obese government intrusion from a considerable height; with any luck, it'll burst open like a ripe watermelon. ;^)

[AnnaZ]

I'm immune to death in car crashes!

 

Me, too! Mine was 16.5... can I be your passenger?

 

ha ha ha -- splat²

[Paradox]

I had my body fat measured at a hydrostatic tank thingie at the local university. I was in the best shape of my life (that lasted a few months, I am now officially out of shape).

[GailA]

Could it be those SMALL cars that provide LESS PROTECTION than say a SUV that FAT people jam themselves into?

[boris]

"Force = mass x accelaration"

If you are going to quote Newton's Laws it might be advisable to learn how to spell all the terms.

--Boris

[Paradox]

Me, too! Mine was 16.5... can I be your passenger?

What are ya tryin to do, look like Ann Coulter?

[mickie]

I believe it. Thats because they are too busy eating behind the wheel.....Big Macs.......then keeping their eyes on the road.

[tcostell]

...That's crazy talk, since they're less likely to fit into a car....

ROFLMAO!

[AnnaZ]

Could it be those SMALL cars that provide LESS PROTECTION than say a SUV that FAT people jam themselves into?

It could be. It could also be that the chubbies are, increasingly, the new target of the statists.

Of course, it's all for their own good. And the good of society.

 

I love my SUV.

[AnnaZ]

What are ya tryin to do, look like Ann Coulter?

No, silly. I'm trying to survive car crashes.

[Noumenon]

He thinks one answer may be for safety authorities to use heavier crash-test dummies when certifying cars as safe to drive.

Short of rendering her for lamp oil, we've finally found a good use for Rosie O'Donnell.