PurpleButterfly
16lb to go!
I've just been reading a whole load of interesting stuff and I'd like to bounce it off you guys and see what you think? I appreciate this may be fairly long; sorry about that! It just felt like a bit of a sledgehammer through all my beliefs about being overweight so I thought I'd share!
I've been doing some reading (of research papers & books) about the so-called 'obesity epidemic' - much of which says there is no such thing. That in terms of mortality rates, being in the 'overweight' category of BMI means that in terms of blood pressure, blood lipids (cholesterol), heart disease, and other things I can't remember it's the healthiest category. There are also lower mortality rates than those in the 'healthy' BMI category. In fact mortality rates only begin to pick up significantly when you get above bmi35. Even then when you take into account that many people will take extreme measures at that size like weight loss surgery (and complications), diet pills (some have side effects of heart problems and weight gain), fad diets, yoyo dieting, etc, the mortality rates plummet. But mortality rates are greatest in the severely underweight. The actual obesity in itself isn't the problem! There has also been other research showing that it may be healthful eating and exercise that is a greater contributor to health. One study compared people who are overweight but eat healthily/take exercise, and those who had 10kgs taken off with liposuction. That should show if it is the weight itself or the lifestyle that was the problem. Guess what? the healthier people were the first group.
Apparently in the 1980's to be 'healthy' the BMI boundary was 27. Then they moved it to 25, thus many people suddenly became overweight having been healthy; without gaining a lb. That there has been an average weight increase but only of about 3 to 5 kg, and some studies have shown that since 2001 I think, this has stabilised. Likewise there has been a small increase in those over 35bmi but only slight. But that slight increase in overall weight has nudged more people into the 'obese' category that were previously sitting under the line. So much for a massive increase in those who are overweight!
The most famous research (done by the JAMA/Journal of American Medical health) that showed about obesity being linked to high mortality rates - the first paper saying obesity accounted for 400,000 deaths. The other saying obesity accounted for 30,000 deaths. In actual fact they did not control for many different things such as diet, exercise levels, family medical history etc. Yet the media got hold of this and .. the rest is history. In unbiased research (i.e. not funded by pharmaceutical companies etc), there has only been weak evidence to suggest that there is any link made between being 'obese' and being unhealthy. Yet the diet industry makes billions per year.
In fact one paper I read suggested that in times of great social change in society, people look to project their anxieties onto one particular group. That group becomes the scapegoat for all that is 'bad' and immoral in society. Otherwise known as a moral panic. Given the levels of prejudice against obesity is it not plausible that this could be the case?
What do you think???
I've been doing some reading (of research papers & books) about the so-called 'obesity epidemic' - much of which says there is no such thing. That in terms of mortality rates, being in the 'overweight' category of BMI means that in terms of blood pressure, blood lipids (cholesterol), heart disease, and other things I can't remember it's the healthiest category. There are also lower mortality rates than those in the 'healthy' BMI category. In fact mortality rates only begin to pick up significantly when you get above bmi35. Even then when you take into account that many people will take extreme measures at that size like weight loss surgery (and complications), diet pills (some have side effects of heart problems and weight gain), fad diets, yoyo dieting, etc, the mortality rates plummet. But mortality rates are greatest in the severely underweight. The actual obesity in itself isn't the problem! There has also been other research showing that it may be healthful eating and exercise that is a greater contributor to health. One study compared people who are overweight but eat healthily/take exercise, and those who had 10kgs taken off with liposuction. That should show if it is the weight itself or the lifestyle that was the problem. Guess what? the healthier people were the first group.
Apparently in the 1980's to be 'healthy' the BMI boundary was 27. Then they moved it to 25, thus many people suddenly became overweight having been healthy; without gaining a lb. That there has been an average weight increase but only of about 3 to 5 kg, and some studies have shown that since 2001 I think, this has stabilised. Likewise there has been a small increase in those over 35bmi but only slight. But that slight increase in overall weight has nudged more people into the 'obese' category that were previously sitting under the line. So much for a massive increase in those who are overweight!
The most famous research (done by the JAMA/Journal of American Medical health) that showed about obesity being linked to high mortality rates - the first paper saying obesity accounted for 400,000 deaths. The other saying obesity accounted for 30,000 deaths. In actual fact they did not control for many different things such as diet, exercise levels, family medical history etc. Yet the media got hold of this and .. the rest is history. In unbiased research (i.e. not funded by pharmaceutical companies etc), there has only been weak evidence to suggest that there is any link made between being 'obese' and being unhealthy. Yet the diet industry makes billions per year.
In fact one paper I read suggested that in times of great social change in society, people look to project their anxieties onto one particular group. That group becomes the scapegoat for all that is 'bad' and immoral in society. Otherwise known as a moral panic. Given the levels of prejudice against obesity is it not plausible that this could be the case?
What do you think???