Obesity loses place as second biggest killer of Americans

[emad]

By Philip Sherwell in Washington
(Filed: 24/04/2005)

A political food fight has broken out in America after obesity was downgraded from the country's biggest killer after smoking to seventh place. Analysis by government scientists shows that far fewer people than thought die from being fat.

Their findings - that 112,000 people are killed by obesity each year, rather than the 400,000 calculated by the US Centre for Disease Control last year - comes as a blow to "nanny state" activists seeking tighter regulation of the food industry and lawyers acting for fat clients.

The figures also suggest that 87,000 lives were saved because people were moderately overweight: mainly older people who were less frail. Only extreme obesity carries a severe death risk.

Radley Balko, who specialises in "nanny culture" at the Washington-based Cato Institute, said that the revised estimate would boost those who thought health and diet were a matter of personal choice, not state regulation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/24/wfat24.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/24/ixworld.html

[DBoon]

1. I thought actuarial tables said

that being even moderately overweight increased the chance of death in the near-term.

[NV Whino]

2. That's only if you are buying insurance...

Gives them a reason to raise the rates.

[Warpy]

3. They did. They were wrong.

However, it would be interesting to see a longitudinal study, too, to determine what moderate obesity during childhood and/or adolescence and/or young adulthood means in terms of diseases in later life.

The fact is that obesity remains largely a puzzle. Nobody knows what part genetics and brain chemistry play, and there is no long term cure for it. Even gastric surgeries can be only temporary fixes with a poor longterm prognosis for keeping the weight off.

I welcome this study as I welcome anything that disarms the body weight bigots, usually people under 45 who inherited slim figures.

[TheFarseer]

4. Certainly these findings were spun

to meet someone's agenda. Alot of people probably have problems with obesity AND smoking for instance. If obesity is OK, I suppose not being able to climb stairs without pausing to pant between floors is good, and being too tired and out of shape to play with your kids is good. If you believe that obesity is not unhealthy, then you also believe that a lifestyle of eating fast food and greasy prepackaged dinners and snacks is also healthy and sitting on your ass watching TV is good for your health. This study is totally irresponsible. Why can't we just say that being obese is not good for you in any way as well as hard on other people's eyes and leave it at that!

[murray hill farm]

5. I so agree with you!

u will probably get slammed for saying it...but what you have had the courage to say is the truth....so clearly the truth! Today, there are so many special interests groups to push the OKness of obesity...and so many support groups such as "fat is beautiful", etc..to provide the support and the rationales for stayilng fat and unhealthy...and feeling OK in doing so...thanks for saying it..it is not good for you, it sets an "i cant help it" rationale for your children...and yeah...fat is not attractive..no matter how much one wants to believe it is.

[countingbluecars]

6. "so many support groups"

We must counter the many support groups such as "fat is beautiful" with more fashion magazines with anorexic models. Save the little girls of the world.

[murray hill farm]

7. no we must not!!

We must counter it with "healthy weight is beautiful"

[countingbluecars]

8. I agree.

I do hope you know I was being sarcastic.

[murray hill farm]

9. ha! no, i missed it...so sorry!

thanks for letting me know! i have been slammed mightally many times for my stand on this...so, i am a tinsy overly sensitive...so glad i was mistaken here..hahahaha!

[Mnemosyne]

10. God forbid that everything in your world isn't "pretty"

No being fat is not good for you, a no brainer there, but what snobbery you exhibit. Shame.

Maybe you can get legislation passed to keep fat people out of restaurants or public places so you don't have to look at them.

[murray hill farm]

13. NO...not interested in doing such a nasty and childish thing as that...

i am interested though...in creating an atmosphere of belief in people..that one can take control of their lives and become healthy. i do not wish to get into a debate with this..so i will not respong to you again.

[Mnemosyne]

11. Don't look!

You should fit in just fine with the Lunatic's perfect world and his mom Barbara "beautiful brain" bush.

[KittyWampus]

12. Something Is Fishy. NYTimes Editorial Last Week Said Weight Loss

and change in activity level was futile. That it won't help you live longer but only increase 'probability'.

This study only looks at two factors- weight and age of death.

Very limited approach to an issue.

IMO, there might be a lawsuit coming down the pike against corporations peddling garbage food to kids or something.

[Arugula Latte]

15. That is a ridiculous thing for the NYT to state.

There are reams of documentation showing how even modest weight loss/exercise have staved off diabetes in people who were heading down that path. That is just one example.

But, again, this is the same paper that insisted that the Bush admin's view that we were in grave danger from Iraq was the truth. :eyes:

[KittyWampus]

16. Indeed, It Was Strange & Seemed To Auger Some Kind Of PR Campaign

and then out comes this study about overweight people supposedly living longer.

[SheilaT]

14. Some thoughts here.

One is that a lot of thin people are smokers. Smokers tend to die prematurely.

Look around, and you simply don't see a lot of elderly obese people. Clearly obesity cures itself one way or another.

Individual heredity is enormously important. Remember Jim Fixx, the running guru who died of a heart attack while running when he was only 52? He had a strong family history of heart disease -- his own father died of a heart attack at age 43 -- and high cholesterol himself. He probably extended his own life span noticeably, however, by giving up smoking and losing 50 pounds when he was 35.

It behooves us all to eat reasonably well, try not to be obese, not to smoke, and get at least some exercise. But in the end, everyone dies. Everyone.

[KittyWampus]

17. If You Have Stomach Cancer & Die Extremely Underweight- Was THAT

counted into the average of this study?

Alot of people who are ill loss a lot of weight.

This would influence the average numbers when looking at only two sets of statistics- weight and age of death.