Obesity Isn't an Epidemic

[Worffan101]

HuffPo, as usual, takes a real problem (doctors are paid off by pharma conglomerates and our society is often cruel instead of helpful to overweight people), and says something blatantly stupid instead.

Don't read HuffPo. You want good left-leaning media, the closest you're going to get is Mother Jones or the Guardian. Maybe the Hill, but that's kinda centrist more than anything.

I feel like you're ignoring the material presented because you dislike the source. Yeah they kinda suck sometimes, but you aren't engaging the actual studies and arguments put forth.

OK. Here's the basic facts; excess fat can be really bad for one's health. Increases risks of joint and back problems, some chronic diseases.

Our society is pretty cruel to overweight people. However, instead of proposing that society be less shitty to overweight people and help them lose weight in an actually effective way (rather than spouting fad-diet BS as even HuffPo is wont to do), the article engages in some weird oppression narrative where fat people are perfectly healthy and it's just society refusing to accept them.

This same bullshit narrative was aimed at people with neurological disorders, and it was just as bullshit then as it is now. See, the difference (speaking from personal experience here) with having a brain that's wired the wrong way and being black is that there's no real physical or emotional downside to being black other than that imposed by society*, whereas having neurological issues causes significant stress, physical pain, and other issues on a daily basis and does even when I'm surrounded by supportive friends. I have to adapt my daily routine to deal with my issues and I would have to even if society were 100% OK with people with neurological issues.

And if I were morbidly obese it would be the exact same way.

That's why the article's bullshit.

*Please don't be pedantic and say "what about sickle-cell anemia?" unless you want me to bring up that white people have a much higher risk of skin cancer.

[Riedquat]

Surely you don't have to be on the diet forever (although maybe relative to what you were eating). You don't want to keep losing weight.

That's the mistaken understanding that causes a lot of dietary issues. Diets aren't about losing weight, they're about finding the proper diet (as in, the general menu of food you eat) which matches an appropriate calorie intake to your metabolism and exercise (calories out), while meeting all of your nutritional needs.

A proper diet is one which maintains a healthy weight and level of nutrition.

And first you need to get to that healthy weight if you're not there.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

This article isn’t actually saying anything new, it’s been known for a long time that over 90% of diets fail.

That failure rate is not due to people being lazy and going back to their “old ways.” Diets for many people are simply unsustainable and dangerous.

The article acknowledges that some people will lose weight through dietary changes and exercise.

Many metabolic issues can mean you will never, ever be thin.

The main point of the article is that being fat doesn’t automatically mean you’re unhealthy and there’s too much emphasis on it and pressure to worry about it in ways that are often unhealthy in themselves.

And please don't throw around "Morbidly Obese", as that term is literally just based on a higher BMI range and therefor medically worthless. It's caught on because it sounds really scary.

[Madner Kami]

And please don't throw around "Morbidly Obese", as that term is literally just based on a higher BMI range and therefor medically worthless. It's caught on because it sounds really scary.

Yes, there is no morbid obesity.



Only degrees of being slightly too large to live.

[Deledrius]

And please don't throw around "Morbidly Obese", as that term is literally just based on a higher BMI range and therefor medically worthless.

In short, there is no problem specifically with BMI – it is a reasonable and convenient measure that applies well to large populations and can supplement other information about individual patients. There may be a problem with how BMI is used in certain cases, but this too is similar to many measures in science and technology. There is an oversimplification bias in which we substitute a simple question for a more complex question, or a simple measure for a more detailed one. BMI should not be used as the one measure of health or even ideal weight. It needs to be use properly and in the context of other relevant information.

From: BMI and the Obesity Epidemic

Also, from the same article, addressing the main topic:

There is no question at this point that there is an obesity epidemic, the problem is worsening over time, and it is spreading throughout the world. This seems to be an inherent problem with modern civilization. There is an ongoing debate about the relative contributions of a sedentary lifestyle and food abundance, but clearly both play a role.

This article, unlike the HuffPo one, cites numbers and the appropriate studies to back up the claims it makes instead of appealing to emotional anecdotes.

[Worffan101]

And please don't throw around "Morbidly Obese", as that term is literally just based on a higher BMI range and therefor medically worthless.

In short, there is no problem specifically with BMI – it is a reasonable and convenient measure that applies well to large populations and can supplement other information about individual patients. There may be a problem with how BMI is used in certain cases, but this too is similar to many measures in science and technology. There is an oversimplification bias in which we substitute a simple question for a more complex question, or a simple measure for a more detailed one. BMI should not be used as the one measure of health or even ideal weight. It needs to be use properly and in the context of other relevant information.

From: BMI and the Obesity Epidemic

Also, from the same article, addressing the main topic:

There is no question at this point that there is an obesity epidemic, the problem is worsening over time, and it is spreading throughout the world. This seems to be an inherent problem with modern civilization. There is an ongoing debate about the relative contributions of a sedentary lifestyle and food abundance, but clearly both play a role.

This article, unlike the HuffPo one, cites numbers and the appropriate studies to back up the claims it makes instead of appealing to emotional anecdotes.

Basically this.

HuffPo is to science what Fox News is to truth.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

And please don't throw around "Morbidly Obese", as that term is literally just based on a higher BMI range and therefor medically worthless. It's caught on because it sounds really scary.

Yes, there is no morbid obesity.



Only degrees of being slightly too large to live.

Showing a picture of a fat person that grosses you out isn't as strong of an argument as you think it is.

[Madner Kami]

I can't remember having written anything about my emotions about this person. I was making a point about your, frankly, stupid rebuttal. That woman is sick, quite clearly. She's also absurdly fat, so fat in fact, that she can not even get out of the bed anymore, not to even think about basic functions of life outside of moving her hand to her mouth with some food in it. Its easy to link her morbid status to her fatness. Thus, "morbidly obese" is not a misused term, it simply and quite clearly describes what this woman is: She's fat and she's sick because of her fatness.

[Nealithi]

And please don't throw around "Morbidly Obese", as that term is literally just based on a higher BMI range and therefor medically worthless.

In short, there is no problem specifically with BMI – it is a reasonable and convenient measure that applies well to large populations and can supplement other information about individual patients. There may be a problem with how BMI is used in certain cases, but this too is similar to many measures in science and technology. There is an oversimplification bias in which we substitute a simple question for a more complex question, or a simple measure for a more detailed one. BMI should not be used as the one measure of health or even ideal weight. It needs to be use properly and in the context of other relevant information.

From: BMI and the Obesity Epidemic

Also, from the same article, addressing the main topic:

There is no question at this point that there is an obesity epidemic, the problem is worsening over time, and it is spreading throughout the world. This seems to be an inherent problem with modern civilization. There is an ongoing debate about the relative contributions of a sedentary lifestyle and food abundance, but clearly both play a role.

This article, unlike the HuffPo one, cites numbers and the appropriate studies to back up the claims it makes instead of appealing to emotional anecdotes.

I would point out the article cites that the BMI test is limited and should not be used alone. Because people like to over simplify. Guess what, they over simplify often.

[LittleRaven]

I would point out the article cites that the BMI test is limited and should not be used alone. Because people like to over simplify. Guess what, they over simplify often.

The problems with BMI are greatly exaggerated. Sure, it can break down in individual cases, but statistically, it's perfectly valid.

If your BMI says that you are not obese, the odds are overwhelming that you aren't. If your BMI says you ARE obese, then the odds are very, very good that you are. Sure, if you're a heavy duty athlete, then those odds go down...but honestly, if you're a heavy duty athlete, you don't care what your BMI says.