1 in 4 Americans Deemed "Obese"
You know, it's been a while since the media's had a story about fat. Oh sure, there was the whole Wall-E thing where Rachel was mistaken for Marilyn Wann, and the other thing where The Rotund's site was deemed a haven for "chubby chasers". But those don't have sizzle. No legs! What we need is something that will remind people of the War on Fat... something that will get all of the so-called experts out of the woodwork and give 'em some air time. Hm, what could that be?
The CDC's latest study claims that the number of people who say they are 'obese' - this is a self-reported phone study after all - is the highest ever, and that a full 25% of Americans fall into that category. This news, again, comes from the CDC, a very... respectable?... organization whose only recent dilemma in the fat realm came when they overestimated the number of deaths due to fat by 14x and didn't apologize for it. You know, no big deal.
The punch in the gut in this particular story which ran in the Chicago Tribune is their focus at the end of the piece on a woman who lost 80 pounds through diet and exercise. The thing is basically an ad for the University of Chicago right there in the article. Opposing viewpoint? Nope. When it comes to the media and the War on Fat, there is no other viewpoint; it's contained to that zany fat-o-sphere where fat people are whining about movies and such.
If you feel like blowing your Sanity Watchers points, you can check the Trib's cesspool of comments. The Anti-Fat Comment Score is 1*, an impressive feat. (Oh, and in the comments I learned that Canada has fewer fat people due to their healthcare system! Amazing!)
As an extra bonus, way to stay classy, Tribune:
Rod Liddle Advocates Violence Against Fat People | Dr. Michael Snyder, Bariatric Surgeon, Supports BFB
Posted by paul on July 18, 2008
But wait! Australia has a very similar healthcare system to Canada, and five minutes ago we were the most obese nation in the wooooooooorld!
the number of people who say they are 'obese' -- this is a self-reported phone study after all -
Okay, thank you. I read the article while bleary-eyed last night and couldn't find the missing crucial bit of info I KNEW was buried in there somewhere. So first, doesn't this just indicate that more people are aware of their BMI category now? I mean, don't we get an article every other week complaining that fat people don't know how fat they are -- meaning only that they don't know their BMI? Shouldn't they be celebrating the fact that an additional 2% of obese people have had the BMI shoved down their throats so hard they now know what category they're in?
Second, you know that other "gold standard" survey they mention? The last one showed that obesity rates had leveled off for everyone in the last couple of years (as I know you know, 'cause I'm sure you posted about it). And they leveled off for women in 1999. Unless the latest one shows another spike, the official line of the CDC itself is that obesity is NOT on the rise. FFS.
It probably means that people who, again, self-report their height and weight just fall into these BMI categories. That's about it.
Per this piece:
"The last one showed that obesity rates had leveled off for everyone in the last couple of years (as I know you know, 'cause I'm sure you posted about it). And they leveled off for women in 1999."
But... but... remember, fat is baaad!
It's the week for the big O scare.
Yahoo reported the fattest states in the nation yesterday, and my local news this morning said that while Maryland is low on the list for being a fat state, OH NOEZ!!! We still have huge fatties pounding the pavements. The report was complete with more shots of headless fatties walking. Which is ironic if you think about it, because all these fat people are walking in these stories. You hardly ever see them sitting around being lazy next to fast food joints.
The only reason there is an obesity epidemic is because the BMI has been shifted, and many who were considered at a "healthy weight" are now considered too big. Once you screw around with numbers, suddenly everyone is a walking heart attack.
Yes, I wish they'd make up their minds. Only last week they were going on about how obesity is becoming normalised and people don't know when they're 'dangerously' (because lets face it, there's no other kind) overweight. Hotly followed by a self-reported phone study (hang on, don't they know *all* fat people lie to researchers about their weight, especially when that researcher can't actually see the respondent in question?) that basically contradicts everything their research colleagues said less than a week ago. And they somehow expect us to keep up with all this? No wonder they need goodness knows how many obesity journals and the rest in which to publish this unending stream of contradictory scienterrific detritus.
"if you think fat people have no self-discipline, consider the fact that they haven’t killed you yet." - Miss Conduct, Boston Globe
Oh man, Paul - I'm getting insanity overload from these hideous articles and the comments that follow. Where can we go to stock up on sanity points so as to be ready for the next onslaught? Speak comforts to us Marley.
Zero isn't a size, it's a warning sign. - Carson Kressley
The Kevin Pease Beer Fund Foundation - Won't Someone PLEASE think of the psychology students?
Waitaminute-waitaminute! Do we KNOW we're fat or don't we?. . . . Oh, Right! That study was done in England. Doesn't count. Besides that, it only means people are becoming aware that the usual scare-media portrayal of obesity doesn't represent them and, like Kate sez, it only shows that we're beginning to ignore the BMI which really isn't all that accurate anyway. We should be buying into the former and paying strict attention to the latter. . . I think. Whatever it is, it's all for our own good anyway, right? I mean, America IS the Fattest Country in the wor-. . . . Oh man. That's right. Australia. But, wait, wasn't Mexico number two last month? What ever happened to China and Tonga? Ok, One's got a lot more people and the other's got a lot less. We can put that down to statistics, so we're probably #2 . . . Or 3. Maybe #4, depending on how you look at it. OK, we're in the TOP 5, damnit! . . . And growing! The CDC says so and they wouldn't lie! What? No ones ever made a mistake that's set policy and stigmatized millions. . . Hundreds of thousands. . . -3 million, divided by 14, plus 30 BMI, adjusted for-. . . A LOT of people before? Why should they take responsibility for themselves and admit they were wrong when we should be taking responsibility for ourselves by. . . Not being fat. . . Where people can see us. Just because they don't know what their talking about doesn't mean it's not relevant. Stop whining! Put down that Cheeseburger!. . . . . Fatty!
Everything great and worthwhile in human life is an accumulation of hundreds
and sometimes thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices that nobody ever
sees or appreciates. - Law of Accumulation
Besides the "gold-standard" line, the sentence that made me laugh is:
"In Illinois, 24.9 percent of adults were obese in 2007, up from 24.3 in 2005"
Huh? How is that statistically significant? Oh my god, it increased by a whopping .6% over two years!! Everybody lock up your fridges because the fatties are taking over!!
The U.S. never did have the highest rate of "obesity," anyway. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Panama all have more "obese" people per capita. (See here.)
Boy, they really ARE clutching at straws, ain't they? It just wouldn't be acceptable not to panic about fat. Too much money is at stake.
I had the same thought, Pinkpoodle. 0.6 percent? Even if you accept the lies about weight and health, who on earth could care about THAT?!? And even the overall numbers, 24.9 percent of adults, is still a low percentage. Fat people are clearly in the minority, despite all the hoopla and panic.
My own state, apparently, wins for the "skinniest," 'coz we've got loads of outdoor activities available, doncha know! A regional paper had a non-story about that today, as the lead, no less. I'm not criticizing the reporter, but the info he was given is just crap. It devolved from the typical scare tactics to several column inches of free advertising for Weight Watchers. It never crossed his mind to talk to someone OTHER THAN a dieter on WW and a program director, for his dreaded "localize this story" assignment. When I say I'm not criticizing him, though, I mean it — weight bigotry and its attendant mythology are so entrenched it simply *does not* cross people's minds that there *is* another "side" to the story, let alone one that is legitimate.
But one thing that struck me was the reference to the CDC, which sniffed that the estimates on obesity and overweight were probably STILL less than what the alarmists were reporting, because the telephone survey relied on self-reporting. And you know all we evil blubber butts just liiiieeee about our weight. This, from the agency that lied about the number of "obesity related deaths" and got busted, then did.. nothing to correct the false information! Ugh.
It's true. I am the only fat person in Canada.
And I'm fat because I was born in the US.
But I was born up here in the Great White North. How to explain this? (True, I personally don't have any contact with the socialized medical system that the comment-person credits for the difference, but are adherents of un-socialized natural medicine really fatter too?)
Funny how these fat-by-region never mention the differences in the ethnic origins of populations in various states/provinces (more African-Americans in the 'fat' US south; more First Nations people in 'fat' central Canada; more Asian-Americans in the major so-called 'active and fit' cities; etc.). But I guess that would mean having to acknowledge that the 'fight against obesity' is deeply racist as well, pathologizing the natural body types of certain communities for their failure to conform to the white 'normate physique'.
Damn, I need to re-up my SW points. I'd like to do a blog post with a very fourth-grade book report outline of an anti-fat media story. You know, on the blue-lined notebook paper, with your name and the date and your teacher in the upper right. This story is such an example of following the typical outline...I bet fourth graders do a better job of researching their papers, though.
Also, I'm sad that it took three reporters to write that brief and pathetic story. Especially since I've seen Judith Graham do much better reporting, albeit not on fat-related health issues.
Okay, once again, I am confused.
It is my understanding of the conventional wisdom that one third of the population is overweight, another third is obese and only a third is either "normal/healthy" or "underweight." So, why is one quarter now deemed such a horrible figure? Either, as Kate notes, people are merely more aware of their BMIs, which the CDC in its wisdom should celebrate, or it means, if we accept that this news is more accurate than previous reports, obesity has actually declined from one third to one quarter, another celebratory thing for CDCers. You know, these CDCers just always have to be upset about something. I think they need more bran in their diets.
Ya know, perhaps we should organize a friendly campaign to mail the fine Dr. Julie Gerberding envelopes of All Bran. It's a thought.
I expect these kinds of studies to come out. Much of it is marketing from Pharma. Everyone should do themselves a favor and wiki the VNR or video news release. They are paid commercials made to look like news. It can drive us crazy, but it is naive to think they will stop. So it might be helpful to understand it is not just a matter of the media seeing the truth because that is not the name of the game anymore.
I actually am encouraged in general by the comment section. I use a fat positive name and I have noticed others doing so as well. I have noticed more people feel comfortable in making fat friendly remarks, and lots of potential rebels that just don't have enough info. Yes, there will always be jerks. And I wouldn't be surprized if some of the jerks were paid as part of the marketing campaign. But there are genuine jerks out there too. On all subjects. They had to close the Whole Foods closed because of mice,got so nasty between health nuts and health rebels. The good thing about the Trib is we can post our side. And we should. One does not need to read the comments to post; in fact, they are not even visible. So if one doesn't feel strong enough, just get in a pro fat zinger, hit send, and do not look back! But please, do let yourself be heard!!!
1/4? Uhh, haven't they been yellling that it's been 1/3 for like the last three years? What the fuck is there problem? Am I suppose to forget the garbage they spit out before, so I can learn to take in new garbage? Looks like Americans are getting thinner.... wait... fatter right before my eyes.*HeaddesK*