Do we need scientists to tell us we are fat?

[dmp]

I mean - this seems like a no-brainer to me:

...overweight teens tended to eat more than the lean ones, the researchers found.

Forbes.com:

Obesity Epidemic Continues Unabated
By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter


TUESDAY, June 15 (HealthDayNews) -- The tidal wave of youthful fat in the United States has not abated, and the rate for adults is no better, the latest U.S. government survey says.

"There are no surprises, only the regular surprise that the level of overweight continues to be alarmingly high," said Allison A. Hedley, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hedley is the lead author of a report on the survey, published in the June 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Another report in the journal points to fast food as a contributor to young people's weight problems.

The government report, from the ongoing National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, contains data on two groups of more than 4,000 adults and 4,000 children gathered in 1999-2000 and then in 2001-2002. It draws the usual distinction between being overweight, obese, and "extremely obese," which is defined as exceeding given readings of body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight to height.

Overweight people have a BMI between 25 and 29.9, obese people have a BMI 30 or above, and extremely obese people chart at 40 and above.

The government and public health organizations have expressed increasing concern about the high levels of overweight and obesity in American adults and children, and the new report does nothing to ease those worries.

For adults, there was a slight change for the worse in the two surveys -- 64.5 percent overweight in 1999-2000, 65.7 percent in 2001-2002; obesity increasing from 30.5 percent to 30.6 percent; and extreme obesity going up from 4.7 percent to 5.1 percent.

The survey did not measure obesity among children ages 6 through 19. Instead, its categories were "at risk for overweight," which means a BMI greater than 85 percent of the standard weight-for-age chart, or "overweight," a BMI greater than 95 percent of the standard reading.

In the first survey, 29.9 percent of children were classified as "at risk for overweight" in 1999-2000; that rose to 31.5 percent in 2001-2002. The incidence of frank overweight rose from 15.0 percent in 1999-2000 to 16.5 percent in 2001-2002.

It is too early to tell whether growing concern about the incidence of overweight and obesity in the United States is having a positive effect, Hedley said.

"Public health programs, working to improve diet and nutrition and increase physical activity, take time," she said. "That is why we continue to monitor the situation."

The fast-food study, from researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, came in two parts, including 54 13-to-17-year-olds classified as overweight or lean on the basis of BMI readings.

In the first part, the teens were allowed to eat unlimited portions of extra-large fast-food meals (from an outlet that was carefully not identified). Each meal contained an average of 1,652 calories, more than 61 percent of total daily energy requirements. The overweight teens tended to eat more than the lean ones, the researchers found.

The second study asked the teens about their total food intake on days when they had a meal at a fast-food outlet (McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Wendy's, or Taco Bell, the five leading chains).

"The lean adolescents compensated by eating less overall that day," said Cara B. Ebbeling, a research associate at Children's Hospital, who led the study. "The overweight adolescents did not."

The study couldn't determine cause and effect, whether a high-calorie, fast-food diet causes obesity or whether it is a marker of an innate tendency to overeat, Ebbeling said.

But, she added, "the studies provide a basis to support the argument for reducing marketing of fast foods to children, to eliminate fast food in schools, and to promote reduced intake of foods containing refined starches and added sugars."

 

[insein]

No we need TV to tell us we're too fat. But TV is the one that tells us to eat. Its the only one we listen to anymore.

 

[krisy]

I always thought a mirror was completely adequate to tell someone that they are fat.

 

[nycflasher]

Shit, if your fat and you don't know it...

What we really need is for people to eat better and excercise more and stop super-sizing it.

Then we'll be fine.

 

[dilloduck]

I know some people who need a scientist to tell em cause I'm to afraid to.

 

[Merlin1047]

I am not fat.

I'm robust.

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by dilloduck
I know some people who need a scientist to tell em cause I'm to afraid to.

 

[Avatar4321]

I thought it was the husbands job to tell his wife that dress makes her look fat. Then it was his job to shower her with gifts and sleep on the sofa for the next month for being so stupid.

 

[007]

People just need to keep their fat asses out of mcdonalds and start excersizing. People are far too sedentary, and eat too much.

There's NO EXCUSE for being fat... other than you can't stop shoving food in your cake hole.

 

[dmp]

'over-heard on a talk show I'd never admit watching':


"I know you WANT to lose weight...but are you WILLING to lose weight?"

Gastric Bypass...Atkins...Wieght Watchers....the Stop-Eating-So-Damn-Much-Diet...all require 'sacrifices'. Today's generation knows little of that word; obsessed with self-gratification. "If you aren't 'happy', divorce your spouse!". "Why should I be MORE worried about 'the greater good'? It's all about ME, baby!".


Hedonism is king.

 

[5stringJeff]

I'm not fat... I'm festively plump!!!

BEEFCAKE!!!!!

http://www.rocpoint.com/03profiles/khall/beefcakecartmansmall.gif

 

[fuzzykitten99]

alls i know is, i had trouble losing the baby weight after my son was born...but the South Beach diet has been a miracle-worker. i am alreadyfitting into my pre-prego jeans-just barely. i have a few more pounds to go, but the best part is, i can still have sweets and stuff, just in limited amounts.

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by Pale Rider

There's NO EXCUSE for being fat... other than you can't stop shoving food in your cake hole.

Untrue. Some people have health problems...

 

[brneyedgrl80]

Originally posted by Avatar4321
I thought it was the husbands job to tell his wife that dress makes her look fat. Then it was his job to shower her with gifts and sleep on the sofa for the next month for being so stupid.

Absolutely true!! :

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by brneyedgrl80
Absolutely true!! :

[kidding]
Which is why women must be lied to like children, so they don't cry, and men must take control when the shit hits the fan!
[/kidding]

 

[crazy canadian]

I want to host a TV program that helps moms or dads choose healthy foods at the grocery store, on a budget, with no time to cook. Teach people what to look for on a label, make it fun to watch, air it at lunch time. I could get my friend and her kids to do it alongside of me with the vegetarian version and we'd all be in the kitchen making cooking healthfully look like it's as important as it really is. I'll probably get serious about it when I get back to Canada. I just got diagnosed with diabetes in the Fall, and I swear, EVERYONE should eat like a diabetic.

 

[crazy canadian]

Originally posted by rtwngAvngr
[kidding]
Which is why women must be lied to like children, so they don't cry, and men must take control when the shit hits the fan!
[/kidding]

You get a lot more sex if your wife feels she's hot

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by crazy canadian
I want to host a TV program that helps moms or dads choose healthy foods at the grocery store, on a budget, with no time to cook. Teach people what to look for on a label, make it fun to watch, air it at lunch time. I could get my friend and her kids to do it alongside of me and my kids in the kitchen making cooking healthfully look like it's as important as it really is. I'll probably get serious about it when I get back to Canada.

We have production studios here in the states you know. Hey cc, where've ya been?

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by crazy canadian
You get a lot more sex if your wife feels she's hot

You're hot! Where's my internet sex, dammit!

 

[nycflasher]

Originally posted by crazy canadian
I want to host a TV program that helps moms or dads choose healthy foods at the grocery store, on a budget, with no time to cook. Teach people what to look for on a label, make it fun to watch, air it at lunch time. I could get my friend and her kids to do it alongside of me with the vegetarian version and we'd all be in the kitchen making cooking healthfully look like it's as important as it really is. I'll probably get serious about it when I get back to Canada. I just got diagnosed with diabetes in the Fall, and I swear, EVERYONE should eat like a diabetic.

good idea...need some help?

<---great cook