The big fat con story

05-11-2004, 04:23 PM

The Guardian has an excerpt from a new book by Paul Campos, "The Obesity
Myth". The excerpt is titled "The big fat con story."
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

There are some interesting points made about the relative unimportance of
body weight per se; I realize that the Guardian is not a medical journal
(and I have no idea of Campos's credentials), but it makes interesting
reading.

Of most relevance here are the following paragraphs on the relative
importance of overweight versus exercise:

"Over the past 20 years, scientists have gathered a wealth of evidence
indicating that cardiovascular and metabolic fitness, and the activity
levels that promote such fitness, are far more important predictors of both
overall health and mortality risk than weight. Yet none of the studies most
often cited for the proposition that fat kills makes any serious attempt to
control for these variables.

"The most extensive work of this sort has been carried out by Steven Blair
and his colleagues at Dallas's Cooper Institute, involving more than 70,000
people. What they have discovered is that, quite simply, when researchers
take into account the activity levels and resulting fitness of the people
being studied, body mass appears to have no relevance to health whatsoever.
In Blair's studies, obese people who engage in at least moderate levels of
physical activity have around one half the mortality rate of sedentary
people who maintain supposedly ideal weight levels.

"Similarly, a 1999 Cooper Institute study involving 22,000 men found the
highest death rate among sedentary men with waist measurements under 34
inches, while the lowest death rate was found among fit men with waist
measurements of 40 inches or more. A 1995 Blair study found that improved
fitness (ie, going from "unfit" to "fit"), with the latter requiring a level
of exercise equivalent to going for a brisk half-hour walk four or five
times per week, reduced subsequent mortality rates by 50%. As Blair himself
puts it, Americans have "a misdirected obsession with weight and weight
loss. The focus is all wrong. It's fitness that is the key." "

Other interesting claims: (1) people who are overweight have less problem
with osteoporesis, (2) The diet Hillary put Bill Clinton on might have been
partly responsible for his obsession with Monica Lewinsky.

--
---
Mike Kruger
Blog: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

05-11-2004, 04:58 PM

<< (2) The diet Hillary put Bill Clinton on might have been
partly responsible for his obsession with Monica Lewinsky. >>

You mean the No-Sex Diet?

You know, for a president, Clinton sure did have some
surprisingly low standards with the babes. Come on,
buddy!

I guess having a head like a weather balloon didn't help
his cause much.

Robert

05-11-2004, 04:58 PM

<< (2) The diet Hillary put Bill Clinton on might have been
partly responsible for his obsession with Monica Lewinsky. >>

You mean the No-Sex Diet?

You know, for a president, Clinton sure did have some
surprisingly low standards with the babes. Come on,
buddy!

I guess having a head like a weather balloon didn't help
his cause much.

Robert

05-11-2004, 04:58 PM

<< (2) The diet Hillary put Bill Clinton on might have been
partly responsible for his obsession with Monica Lewinsky. >>

You mean the No-Sex Diet?

You know, for a president, Clinton sure did have some
surprisingly low standards with the babes. Come on,
buddy!

I guess having a head like a weather balloon didn't help
his cause much.

Robert

05-11-2004, 04:58 PM

<< (2) The diet Hillary put Bill Clinton on might have been
partly responsible for his obsession with Monica Lewinsky. >>

You mean the No-Sex Diet?

You know, for a president, Clinton sure did have some
surprisingly low standards with the babes. Come on,
buddy!

I guess having a head like a weather balloon didn't help
his cause much.

Robert

05-11-2004, 04:58 PM

<< (2) The diet Hillary put Bill Clinton on might have been
partly responsible for his obsession with Monica Lewinsky. >>

You mean the No-Sex Diet?

You know, for a president, Clinton sure did have some
surprisingly low standards with the babes. Come on,
buddy!

I guess having a head like a weather balloon didn't help
his cause much.

Robert

05-11-2004, 05:16 PM

On Wed, 12 May 2004 00:23:56 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>"Over the past 20 years, scientists have gathered a wealth of evidence
>indicating that cardiovascular and metabolic fitness, and the activity
>levels that promote such fitness, are far more important predictors of both
>overall health and mortality risk than weight.
....
>puts it, Americans have "a misdirected obsession with weight and weight
>loss. The focus is all wrong. It's fitness that is the key." "

I figured this out when I dieted myself down to the upper-limit of
my recommended weight. I felt terrible all the time, even though I
was sure to provide sufficient nutrition. I've got little chance of
being healthy if I ignore what my body tells me and force myself
down to 170 pounds; OTOH, at 210 pounds, I feel good. I'd probably
be best at 200, but hey, I get to eat all of everything I want this
way...

On the way back up from 170, I tried to level off every 5 pounds,
but I didn't feel better until maybe 195. For another 15 or 20
pounds, I can eat cheeseburgers and cake all day, and remain healthy
as long as I keep riding. My cholesterol is low, etc...I've just got
this aerobelly.
--
Rick Onanian

05-11-2004, 05:16 PM

On Wed, 12 May 2004 00:23:56 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>"Over the past 20 years, scientists have gathered a wealth of evidence
>indicating that cardiovascular and metabolic fitness, and the activity
>levels that promote such fitness, are far more important predictors of both
>overall health and mortality risk than weight.
....
>puts it, Americans have "a misdirected obsession with weight and weight
>loss. The focus is all wrong. It's fitness that is the key." "

I figured this out when I dieted myself down to the upper-limit of
my recommended weight. I felt terrible all the time, even though I
was sure to provide sufficient nutrition. I've got little chance of
being healthy if I ignore what my body tells me and force myself
down to 170 pounds; OTOH, at 210 pounds, I feel good. I'd probably
be best at 200, but hey, I get to eat all of everything I want this
way...

On the way back up from 170, I tried to level off every 5 pounds,
but I didn't feel better until maybe 195. For another 15 or 20
pounds, I can eat cheeseburgers and cake all day, and remain healthy
as long as I keep riding. My cholesterol is low, etc...I've just got
this aerobelly.
--
Rick Onanian

05-11-2004, 05:16 PM

On Wed, 12 May 2004 00:23:56 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>"Over the past 20 years, scientists have gathered a wealth of evidence
>indicating that cardiovascular and metabolic fitness, and the activity
>levels that promote such fitness, are far more important predictors of both
>overall health and mortality risk than weight.
....
>puts it, Americans have "a misdirected obsession with weight and weight
>loss. The focus is all wrong. It's fitness that is the key." "

I figured this out when I dieted myself down to the upper-limit of
my recommended weight. I felt terrible all the time, even though I
was sure to provide sufficient nutrition. I've got little chance of
being healthy if I ignore what my body tells me and force myself
down to 170 pounds; OTOH, at 210 pounds, I feel good. I'd probably
be best at 200, but hey, I get to eat all of everything I want this
way...

On the way back up from 170, I tried to level off every 5 pounds,
but I didn't feel better until maybe 195. For another 15 or 20
pounds, I can eat cheeseburgers and cake all day, and remain healthy
as long as I keep riding. My cholesterol is low, etc...I've just got
this aerobelly.
--
Rick Onanian

05-11-2004, 05:16 PM

On Wed, 12 May 2004 00:23:56 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>"Over the past 20 years, scientists have gathered a wealth of evidence
>indicating that cardiovascular and metabolic fitness, and the activity
>levels that promote such fitness, are far more important predictors of both
>overall health and mortality risk than weight.
....
>puts it, Americans have "a misdirected obsession with weight and weight
>loss. The focus is all wrong. It's fitness that is the key." "

I figured this out when I dieted myself down to the upper-limit of
my recommended weight. I felt terrible all the time, even though I
was sure to provide sufficient nutrition. I've got little chance of
being healthy if I ignore what my body tells me and force myself
down to 170 pounds; OTOH, at 210 pounds, I feel good. I'd probably
be best at 200, but hey, I get to eat all of everything I want this
way...

On the way back up from 170, I tried to level off every 5 pounds,
but I didn't feel better until maybe 195. For another 15 or 20
pounds, I can eat cheeseburgers and cake all day, and remain healthy
as long as I keep riding. My cholesterol is low, etc...I've just got
this aerobelly.
--
Rick Onanian