Comments on: Government Overstated Obesity Danger

By: Kathleen Helms

Kathleen Helms — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 04:45:00 +0000

Health insurance such as Blue Cross charge 30-50% more in premiums when they decide you are obese.

Wonder why there is such controversy at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention about admitting that obesity is number 7 not number 2 of the leading preventable causes of death?

Follow the money trail.

By: davod

davod — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 21:21:51 +0000

Just after the announcement that obesity was now a disease I recall reading that the statistics used to support the argument were incorrect.

I remember in the 80s in Australia, BMI became the in thing in the services. My boss in the Royal Australian Air Force came back from his physical and said his BMI was to high. He couldn't believe it. This guy was fit, wiry, and did not have a spare ounce of fat on him.

Since then I have been sceptical of the accuracy of the BMI as a methodology for judging a persons fitness.

By: John Anderson

John Anderson — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 16:07:12 +0000

Before "BMI", I was fat. With BMI, obese. Then, modified BMI, morbidly obese.
During these changes, I lost 60lbs.
BMI says Magic Johnson is obese, while Marilyn Monroe would be dangerously underweight.
BMI is stupid.

Another measure has been proposed, a ratio of waist to height.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:43:57 +0000

It's undeniable that Americans are fatter than we should be and that a large percentage are quite obese. But the current BMI tables are simply ridiculous. In a society where even the poor have easy access to protein-rich foods and excellent nutrition, even fit people are much bigger than a generation or two ago.

True.
But I wonder if there isn't somehting more basic going on, here. Is the current BMI suffering from too broad a worldview? I daresay the poorer nations of the world have poeple whose average Body mass is lower than is average in the richer ones. Were these included in the averages that were used to design the BMI?

One could snark that this is yet another example of trying to make us all equally miserable, the world over...

By: JackLewis.net

JackLewis.net — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:32:17 +0000

Laughing all the way to the fridge
I am 5' 11ÃÂ½" tall and weigh 270 lbs (okay, maybe 275...okay, 280 but I think the scales are messed...

By: Boyd

Boyd — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:26:45 +0000

I fought that battle during my entire Navy career. I was just below the upper edge of acceptable weight for my height when I first enlisted (6'4" 241 lbs.), and I remained in that general area throughout my career. For my retirement ceremony, I even wore the same Dress Blue jacket (rank insignia and buttons updated along the way) that I was issued in Boot Camp. But I passed the "ideal" weight when I was 13. I still remember that when I got my physical for the football team at the start of eighth grade, I weighed 204 lbs, although I was only about 6'1" then. Which isn't to say that I couldn't stand to shed a few pounds or anything. But I've long thought those height-weight tables are a crock.

By: James Durbin

James Durbin — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:25:16 +0000

When I was seventeen and a long-distance runner, I was 185 pounds running 55-60 miles each week in season.

When I was working out and boxing for two and a half hours a day and running five miles a day in my 20's, I was 208.

My ideal is 182 - I have a medium build - not massively muscular but not skinny.

Granted, I'm 235 now - but I like the idea of being 20 pounds overweight much better than being 53 pounds overweight.

mmm - someone just brought in krispy kremes!

Okay, so now at 6'1" I'm 235 , which says I have some weight to lose - But

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:00:39 +0000

I just try not to wear overly baggy pants so I don't become a human parasail.

By: McGehee

McGehee — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:41:55 +0000

Matt, no fair carrying cannonballs in your pockets on windy days.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:28:33 +0000

Ahem, at 6' and 145, I am assured by my wife that I DON'T look like a concentration camp survivor. Just svelte.

What a bunch of weightists.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:29:59 +0000

6'1" and 144lbs? That's a toothpick!

By: Just Me

Just Me — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:12:38 +0000

I agree the BMI table is a crock.

By: Mikey

Mikey — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:52:15 +0000

You've got that right. When I was running 30 miles a week I weighed in at 175 at 5'10". There was no way I was gonna hit my 'recommended' weight of 163. That BMI is a crock, they need to seriously redo it.

By: » Gone Hollywood

» Gone Hollywood — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

doubt that there is a genetic component to obesity. The impact is miniscule, however, compared to lifestyle. Related: Obesity Genes (Kate) Free to Choose Obesity? Income May Help Fuel Obesity, Study Finds The Government’s Food Pyramid SchemeGovernment Overstated Obesity Danger Obesity Could Reduce U.S. Life Expectancy Obesity Deemed an Illness You Are What You Eat War on Fat The Afflictions of Affluence Cheeseburger Bill FAT NURSES OBESITY A DISEASE, II IS OBESITY A DISEASE?