Weight and weight loss has turned out to be more popular than I would've expected as a blog topic-- I get a remarkable number of search engine hits looking for some sort of diet information. Given that, I would be remiss if I failed to note an ongoing series of posts on "fat acceptance" at Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge, one of the new ScienceBlogs members:
(The promised parts four and five will undoubtedly show up soon.)
The basic thesis is that being overweight is Bad, and that "fat acceptance" advocates are Bad People. This has resulted in suprisingly little poo-flinging, for a chimpanzee refuge, but things might pick up later...
(As previously noted, I'm sort of agnostic on this. I think the "obesity epidemic" is somewhat overrated, and that the BMI is really badly flawed as a standard for weight, but I have a hard time believing that there aren't some negative health consequences to being overweight.)
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I've flung some poo, but it turned out to be overmuch poo for a comment (perhaps it's something I ate?) so I had to post it on my blog. Thanks for the links... thought-provoking and not a little irritation-provoking as well. (I'm agnostic too, only I think of it as moderate -- I think both sides are ignoring each other, to everybody's detriment.)
Amen -- it's too bad people can't deal with individual cases....
"The basic thesis is that being overweight is Bad, and that 'fat acceptance' advocates are Bad People."
Chad -- I would respectfully like to substitute "Detrimental" for "Bad" and "Misguided" for "Bad People" (caps optional). I don't know whether it's my approach per se that has been primarily responsible for the attachment of morality to the whole issue from my end or whether this, given the topic, is essentially inevitable.
And don't worry, we're just now firin' up the faeces.
P.S. I should read this blog more because I have a physics degree, or so they say. You can see how strongly I've made use of it...
Chad -- I would respectfully like to substitute "Detrimental" for "Bad" and "Misguided" for "Bad People" (caps optional).
The loaded terms are so much more fun, though...
You big troll, you!
There probably are some health drawbacks associated with being overweight. However, you cannot trust the figures that are routinely cited in newspaper stories and the like. They mostly come from sources in the diet industry who have a lot of stake in making people think fat is bad.
What is definitely worse for you is repeatedly losing and gaining weight. Women's bodies in particular have evolved to be good at holding onto and rapidly replacing fat reserves. In a hunter-gatherer culture they fed not only themselves but their youngest child from those reserves and only ones who were good at it survived and reproduced. This is why, particularly for women, weight lost is repeatedly regained along with even more. It's what their bodies DO. The only sure way to lose and keep it off is to up your activity level while eating healthy foods. And you must keep that activity level indefinitely.
The reason so many Americans are overweight is because we diet so much. Honestly, I haven't gained a pound since I quit dieting 25 years ago.
MKK