Obesity is also highly correlated to covid19 hospitalizations and deaths.
-----------
IIRC, slightly overweight (ex: BMI 26 or so) might be better for certain diseases... as having a layer of "emergency fat" for your body to consume during a sickness / illness is beneficial... with respect to a disease. Its worse for long-term health however.
However, "Slightly overweight" is also a condition for strong athletes, as muscle is far more dense than fat. So many strong and healthy athletes are technically overweight (but incredibly healthy). So IIRC, there's a bit of confounding going on in the overweight category.
Once we start getting to the obese category (BMI 30+), the number of muscular people in that group diminishes, and the vast majority of Americans in that group are in fact, unhealthy and sedentary individuals. (I'm sure there's some healthy boxers or wrestlers who are BMI 30+, but they'd be in the gross minority of BMI 30+ individuals in this country)
I also read an interesting book lately called "The Dorito Effect" in which the author makes the case that we have a finely developed ability to associate the flavour of food with the nutrients we get from it (and, when we need nutrients, we'll crave the foods that offer it), but, 1) food's flavour and nutritional value has become diluted as we've bread for larger yields, and 2) we add synthetic flavourings to everything, messing with the ability to crave and eat the foods we need.
> Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.6%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (44.8%), non-Hispanic White adults (42.2%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (17.4%).
This made me say "whoa!" How are asian adults so much lower probable obese?
Also can we please have a COVID-19 sized response to this issue?
> was $147 billion in 2008.
And I've heard elsewhere the _economic_ impact is even greater in the long tail of small but numerous costs of obesity. For example the fuel cost on a flight is greater, or premature mortality meaning that education investment has a lower ROI.
Diet. Higher proportion of Asians being first generation could be a confounding factor. I am sure Nigerians and other first generation are the same.
Then the second and third generations pick up bad eating habits, namely alcohol and eating out.
But from my trips back to my parents’ country, I see a lot of fat rich people and fat kids who have rich parents. In the US, I feel like I hardly ever see rich and fat people.
So it is probably a pendulum where you go from being poor and having to eat home cooked food and not having access to excess calories, and then you might pass on some of those good habits to your kids, but the grandkids will not have them. But then if you are in a social circle that is all relatively rich where being fit is valued, then you might start focusing on being fit rather than enjoying all the wealth you have.
I'd venture to guess that a key difference is that most Black adults grew up in America while most Asian adults immigrated here, maintaining their previous culture's eating and exercise habits.
The numbers start in 1999 because the previous year the CDC arbitrarily changed its criteria for healthy weight, by dictat rendering swaths of the population overweight[1] For the elderly at least, being somewhat overweight is actually healthier.[2] I appreciate that the authors of the article are trying to be helpful but too much useful information is left on the cutting room floor here.
Purely from my own viewpoint, the general size of U.S. restaurant portions in comparison with those in any other country I've visited is noticeably larger. Dishes are more likely to contain processed food products, less likely to contain fresh vegetables, and more likely to contain higher levels of sugars and salt. Again, just my own take. I found when working in Texas and the deep south that booking a room with a kitchen and then shopping for suitable groceries was essential in order to try to eat more sensibly. I'm not flaming anyone, just making an observation. A simple anecdote from a work stay in the Dallas area: several of us "foreigners" went out for dinner and had great difficulty finding a vegetable side dish on the menu. We ordered the broccoli for sharing, so were bemused that it arrived smothered in processed cheese.
Well, Texas is home to some of most overweight cities in the US. However, I agree on all points. Portions are way too big at the majority of places around the US. I get portion anxiety when portions are too large, I feel like I have to eat it all and end up over eating and feeling ill. Places that don't supersize their portions are generally more expensive. Better off making food at home.
People still complain about portions being too small at places with massive portions, restaurant owners feel pressure to keep them large.
One of my colleagues is a vegetarian. During a business trip to Dallas his associates took him out for dinner at a steakhouse. After reading through the menu he asked the waitress whether they had anything without meat and she cheerfully replied, "We have chicken!"
Most Americans concept of "value" is not quality, it's quantity. Being unable to otherwise judge a thing on its merits, they take the bigger one. Not the one that is healthier, or more nutrient-dense. This, IMO, stems from the industrialization of our food supply.
America came of age in post-WWII industrialization. Our food industry originally "began" because it was scaling to cheaply meet the food and logistics needs of a massive war.
So Baby boomers (and therefore subsequent generations) learned to buy shitty, processed food "For America".
Buying a box of mac and cheese isn't like picking out the best vegetables. All things being equal, you just get the biggest one for the price.
People are less active these days compared to 10, 20, 30 years ago. Accessibility to food, not necessarily good food has increased and the combination of the two leads the average person down a pretty bad path.
This could be helped if the average person took more responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, easier said than done as there are many pressures on people now that weren't present 10, 20, 30 years ago.
While exercise is an important aspect of weight management, the single biggest factor is nutrition. So while I'd love to see more people getting off the couch, for no other reason than they'll feel better for it - addressing the food component is critical.
To make big strides in addressing this epidemic around the world, governments would need to start making sugar and fast food unattractive by imposing significant taxes. In parallel, they'd need to make high quality, nutrient dense foods cheaper so it is the obvious choice 6 out of 7 days.
At face value, that seems might seem daunting or unachievable but many governments have incrementally increased taxes on cigarettes as an example. As they get progressively more expensive, it gets harder for the average person to justify spending that money and coupled with education programs in schools and so forth it changes peoples behaviour over time.
This series of articles proposes that environmental contaminants are the only possible cause of obesity that fits with all the available data. Can someone with a biology/medical background weigh in on whether this is legit? https://slimemoldtimemold.com/author/slimemoldtimemold/
One major contributor to growing obesity is the US diet. It is terrible IMO. I believe we need massive corporate responsibility to solving this issue. Without some form of intervention we are going to see rising costs to our healthcare system to sustain high levels of obesity among the populous.
we now have requirements in most places that nutrition must be on the label or accessible. this hasn’t slowed down the obesity rates.
people don’t care what they’re eating and don’t try to figure it out. this is a personal responsibility and it’s cultural, not universal. from this link not every demographic has the same obesity rates
Nitpicking is pointless here, but the phrasing was immediately confusing to me.
"US Adults are 42.4% obese" leads me to believe that all US adults are 42.4% of the way to becoming obese, where as in actuality it appears that 42.4% of US adults are obese.
My siblings are not morbidly obese, but they have been overweight most of their adult lives. The people they hang out with personally and professionally are also overweight and many have the typical health problems that accompany the overweight demographic.
My wife and myself are not overweight and have never been. She was a tom-boy and a jock during high school and did intramural stuff in college. I was on high school track team and either walked or rode my bicycle - no car. While in the military, most of the people in my shop had to eat 4x per day to maintain our weight. Afterwards, during college, I lived on cheap beans and pasta or rice, and the occasional can of cheap tuna, and peanut butter sandwiches until I met my wife. She taught me how to cook and introduced me to much better stuff. So I did not eat 'correctly' until my early 30s.
Until the last two years, we had remained physically active and were never overweight. We have gained some weight but are not overweight and, other than the incident that severely curbed our physical activity, have had no significant health problems.
The pattern of life-long activity and a physical mind-set seems to be a common factor when you look at older healthy people (over 55) that were never overweight, regardless of food quantity and type consumption.
You either are lucky enough to have decent genetics and the willingness to start an active life well, or you go through life increasingly overweight with chronic health problems.
Sugar and its synthetic brothers are addictive. Sugar addiction should be classified as an addiction and given the same sort of attention and funding that alcohol and drug addictions receive.
Being against artificial sweeteners is like being against vaping. Even if they cause some harm, the alternative is a massive danger, so we should still encourage people to switch.
> Overall, men and women with college degrees had lower obesity prevalence compared with those with less education.
Makes sense.
> Although the difference was not statistically significant among non-Hispanic Black men, obesity prevalence increased with educational attainment.
That's unexpected. So every other demographic gets less fat as they get more money/education, but Non-Hispanic Black Men get more fat as they get more money/education. I wonder why.
There are two classes of people you can validly look to for advice on how to avoid Problem X (x = obesity / insomnia / constipation / badly-behaved children):
1) Those who had X but overcame it, or
2) Those who've never had it.
Almost everyone, AFAICT, looks to Class #1. Indeed that's useful.
However, Class #2 also can instruct. Asians are much less obese than non-Asians. What do they eat that you can learn from?
Luckily I fall into the "normal" category, but trying a few variations suggests to me that clinically obese is not necessarily the same as what I think most people would consider "classically" obese. Certainly some very fit/muscular people and even elite athletes such as Alex Ovechkin are (very nearly) clinically obese.
Perhaps it is time to add a few more parameters to the obesity calculator.
We've designed our cities, suburbs, food industry, and society such that the average person is at least overweight, nearing obese.
If the average person suffers from what should be an anomaly, perhaps it is less a personal failing than a societal failing and we should try to fix the societal problems generating the poor outcome.
There have been many suggestions in this thread about the root cause of obesity. While I'm sure these things do contribute to the issue, they are not the main cause - the main cause is that being fat is socially acceptable. I don't believe that if the average person placed great importance on being healthy - as great as making more money, getting a better job etc., they would be unable to afford the extra cost of healthy food, fit a couple of hours of exercise per week into their routines, or do whatever it takes to maintain a healthy physique.
My pet hypothesis is that widespread use of endocrine disruptor chemicals such as phthalates (plastic softeners) is one of several key causes for increasing obesity. There isn't real proof of that yet. But exposure is correlated with lower testosterone levels, and we know that low T can cause growth of adipose tissue.
Unpopular opinion: It's both a personal and societal failing, but personal choice is dominant. You can choose to eat rice and beans and drink water. You don't have to eat hamburgers and fries and drink sugar.
Very true. When it's easier to drive across the street or down the block than walk, you will be less healthy.
Part of what I loved about living in Asia (Taipei, Tokyo, et al.) was that public transit required walking to, between and from stations/stops. It's not much but it's just enough.
City design hasn’t helped; however, even in places where walkability and public transit are good, Mexico City, Paris, China, etc., people are becoming obese.
Well if it's pet theory time, mine is that it's all the sauces, dressings, ketchups, breadcrumbs, and other additions, and indirectly salt and spices. My exhibit #1 are 800-calories salads at Cheesecake Factory. My exhibit #2 is an American dude in Munich telling me the (wonderful, tasty) local pork is "flavorless" and they needs to add some crap to it, or at least give him some ketchup.
You can eat anything - vegetables, meat, fish, potatoes, pasta, bread - and be pretty thin.
If you add 500 calories of dressing to a salad, then no matter what you eat, you are doomed... also, that and spices would bomb out your taste buds, so you wouldn't even be able to enjoy "purer" food anymore.
That’s because it’s profitable and it’s very difficult to make systemic changes. Here’s a few points:
- In the documentary Fed Up, it showed how Michelle Obama had to back down to the big food companies over her push for healthier food.
- I worked with bariatric surgeons and some incredibly cited papers stating that people can’t lose weight by diet and exercise alone. The surgeons I knew were incredibly narrow-minded and uninterested in any counter arguments.
- Sleeve gastrectomies are the most effective technology to fight obesity. If someone can’t change on their own in 10 years, then it is a good option. It removes 90% of the stomach including the hunger hormone ghrelin.
- The surgeon I worked with had a sleeve procedure, stretched his stomach out, and had a 2nd sleeve.
- Long term, the food environment has to change. Living expenses are high, work demands are high, people are stressed and all the easy options are terrible for you.
- We should distribute good meats, foods, vegetables and essentials in an entirely new way.
- Our business leaders like Buffett and Gates need to realize the absurdity of respectively owning Coca Cola and selling potatoes to the fast food industry. Buffet also owns DaVita, a dialysis company. Gates promotes global health but earns money from french fries being sold at McDonalds.
City design and the food industry haven't changed substantially in the last 40 years. If anything, there has been increasing emphasis on walkability in communities and health in foods. And yet the obesity rate was 15% in 1980 and 42% now.
People love to rail on suburbs, but I'd be willing to bet that sugar is the real problem.
Sugar is in everything. Snacks, restaurant food, drinks, sauces. It puts the metabolism into a bad state and desensitizes the body to its deleterious effects. Before you know it you're overweight, mentally foggy, and pre-diabetic. Not a good place to start working out or going for outdoor activities.
People exercise and walk more when they have energy to do so. Sugar saps that away.
Look at people in other "confined" spaces: submarines, ships, the space station. These people are not overweight for lack of walking.
It's diet.
America is pumped full of sugar.
edit to respond to comments (since I'm flagged / rate limited) :
Someone with a healthy body and mind won't "sit on their ass 23 hours a day". They won't consume too many calories, either.
Sugar pushes the body into more lethargy and higher sugar consumption.
The way I've heard it, BMI can be inaccurate on the individual level, but it was created to analyze populations more broadly, where it can be a somewhat useful heuristic. I would guess athletes with obese BMIs are a small enough portion of the population to not make too much of a change to the population-wide statistics.
Beat to the reply by a few other people on the accuracy across populations. The only thing I'll add is that BMI is a much more accessible measure. The more accuracy we want, the more invasive and expensive it is to collect. Just about anyone who's ever been seen by a healthcare provider has their height and weight taken so it's a very easy metric to capture across an entire population.
Most likely done based on BMI because most methods of measuring body fat are not easy to access and have significant variability. I agree with you that BMI is not the best method, but it's probably the best default because it's easy to measure.
At 5'10 230lb the CDC would say I'm "obese" (BMI 32.1).
I also deadlift 400lb and bench 300. My blood pressure, resting heart rate, blood sugar and HDL/LDL are perfect.
I don't know what the body fat percentage is but I'm visibly muscular everywhere except for some stomach fat.
My point is that measuring obesity purely by weight is naive and leads to massive overcounting.
It’s important to recognize *why* the body positivity movement has proponents - it’s a natural reaction to a lot of the moral judgements and prejudices that get passed on people for how their body appears. This can lead to a lot of depression and anxiety, and one way to combat that is with radical self-love. Of course, there’s been a bit of a swing too far and you see people endorsing unhealthy and harmful lifestyles.
I’ve seen people exposing “body neutrality” lately - the idea that you should detach your sense of self worth from your body entirely, and simply view it as a functional thing. For example: “I’m not a bad or failed person because I’m overweight. I appreciate that my body allows me to live my life. However, my weight is negatively affecting the functionality of my body, and so I would like to change that”. Personally I think this is a much healthier mentality.
[+] [-] dragontamer|4 years ago|reply
Obesity is also highly correlated to covid19 hospitalizations and deaths.
-----------
IIRC, slightly overweight (ex: BMI 26 or so) might be better for certain diseases... as having a layer of "emergency fat" for your body to consume during a sickness / illness is beneficial... with respect to a disease. Its worse for long-term health however.
However, "Slightly overweight" is also a condition for strong athletes, as muscle is far more dense than fat. So many strong and healthy athletes are technically overweight (but incredibly healthy). So IIRC, there's a bit of confounding going on in the overweight category.
Once we start getting to the obese category (BMI 30+), the number of muscular people in that group diminishes, and the vast majority of Americans in that group are in fact, unhealthy and sedentary individuals. (I'm sure there's some healthy boxers or wrestlers who are BMI 30+, but they'd be in the gross minority of BMI 30+ individuals in this country)
[+] [-] armagon|4 years ago|reply
I saw a fascinating pre-print paper here a while ago: A Contamination Theory of the Obesity Epidemic. via: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27936016
I also read an interesting book lately called "The Dorito Effect" in which the author makes the case that we have a finely developed ability to associate the flavour of food with the nutrients we get from it (and, when we need nutrients, we'll crave the foods that offer it), but, 1) food's flavour and nutritional value has become diluted as we've bread for larger yields, and 2) we add synthetic flavourings to everything, messing with the ability to crave and eat the foods we need.
[+] [-] maerF0x0|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] maerF0x0|4 years ago|reply
This made me say "whoa!" How are asian adults so much lower probable obese?
Also can we please have a COVID-19 sized response to this issue? > was $147 billion in 2008.
And I've heard elsewhere the _economic_ impact is even greater in the long tail of small but numerous costs of obesity. For example the fuel cost on a flight is greater, or premature mortality meaning that education investment has a lower ROI.
[+] [-] lotsofpulp|4 years ago|reply
Then the second and third generations pick up bad eating habits, namely alcohol and eating out.
But from my trips back to my parents’ country, I see a lot of fat rich people and fat kids who have rich parents. In the US, I feel like I hardly ever see rich and fat people.
So it is probably a pendulum where you go from being poor and having to eat home cooked food and not having access to excess calories, and then you might pass on some of those good habits to your kids, but the grandkids will not have them. But then if you are in a social circle that is all relatively rich where being fit is valued, then you might start focusing on being fit rather than enjoying all the wealth you have.
[+] [-] dangwu|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unyttigfjelltol|4 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9806/17/weight.guidelines/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3182070/
[+] [-] cf100clunk|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gnarcoregrizz|4 years ago|reply
People still complain about portions being too small at places with massive portions, restaurant owners feel pressure to keep them large.
[+] [-] nradov|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eigenrick|4 years ago|reply
Most Americans concept of "value" is not quality, it's quantity. Being unable to otherwise judge a thing on its merits, they take the bigger one. Not the one that is healthier, or more nutrient-dense. This, IMO, stems from the industrialization of our food supply.
America came of age in post-WWII industrialization. Our food industry originally "began" because it was scaling to cheaply meet the food and logistics needs of a massive war.
So Baby boomers (and therefore subsequent generations) learned to buy shitty, processed food "For America". Buying a box of mac and cheese isn't like picking out the best vegetables. All things being equal, you just get the biggest one for the price.
[+] [-] arlattimore|4 years ago|reply
This could be helped if the average person took more responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, easier said than done as there are many pressures on people now that weren't present 10, 20, 30 years ago.
While exercise is an important aspect of weight management, the single biggest factor is nutrition. So while I'd love to see more people getting off the couch, for no other reason than they'll feel better for it - addressing the food component is critical.
To make big strides in addressing this epidemic around the world, governments would need to start making sugar and fast food unattractive by imposing significant taxes. In parallel, they'd need to make high quality, nutrient dense foods cheaper so it is the obvious choice 6 out of 7 days.
At face value, that seems might seem daunting or unachievable but many governments have incrementally increased taxes on cigarettes as an example. As they get progressively more expensive, it gets harder for the average person to justify spending that money and coupled with education programs in schools and so forth it changes peoples behaviour over time.
[+] [-] ahwvd37js|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] avelis|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] foolfoolz|4 years ago|reply
people don’t care what they’re eating and don’t try to figure it out. this is a personal responsibility and it’s cultural, not universal. from this link not every demographic has the same obesity rates
[+] [-] yehudalouis|4 years ago|reply
"US Adults are 42.4% obese" leads me to believe that all US adults are 42.4% of the way to becoming obese, where as in actuality it appears that 42.4% of US adults are obese.
[+] [-] BJBBB|4 years ago|reply
My wife and myself are not overweight and have never been. She was a tom-boy and a jock during high school and did intramural stuff in college. I was on high school track team and either walked or rode my bicycle - no car. While in the military, most of the people in my shop had to eat 4x per day to maintain our weight. Afterwards, during college, I lived on cheap beans and pasta or rice, and the occasional can of cheap tuna, and peanut butter sandwiches until I met my wife. She taught me how to cook and introduced me to much better stuff. So I did not eat 'correctly' until my early 30s.
Until the last two years, we had remained physically active and were never overweight. We have gained some weight but are not overweight and, other than the incident that severely curbed our physical activity, have had no significant health problems.
The pattern of life-long activity and a physical mind-set seems to be a common factor when you look at older healthy people (over 55) that were never overweight, regardless of food quantity and type consumption.
You either are lucky enough to have decent genetics and the willingness to start an active life well, or you go through life increasingly overweight with chronic health problems.
[+] [-] ErikVandeWater|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CanceledAccount|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lotsofpulp|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] meetups323|4 years ago|reply
Makes sense.
> Although the difference was not statistically significant among non-Hispanic Black men, obesity prevalence increased with educational attainment.
That's unexpected. So every other demographic gets less fat as they get more money/education, but Non-Hispanic Black Men get more fat as they get more money/education. I wonder why.
[+] [-] AlbertCory|4 years ago|reply
1) Those who had X but overcame it, or 2) Those who've never had it.
Almost everyone, AFAICT, looks to Class #1. Indeed that's useful.
However, Class #2 also can instruct. Asians are much less obese than non-Asians. What do they eat that you can learn from?
[+] [-] osigurdson|4 years ago|reply
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/en...
Luckily I fall into the "normal" category, but trying a few variations suggests to me that clinically obese is not necessarily the same as what I think most people would consider "classically" obese. Certainly some very fit/muscular people and even elite athletes such as Alex Ovechkin are (very nearly) clinically obese.
Perhaps it is time to add a few more parameters to the obesity calculator.
[+] [-] rjbwork|4 years ago|reply
If the average person suffers from what should be an anomaly, perhaps it is less a personal failing than a societal failing and we should try to fix the societal problems generating the poor outcome.
[+] [-] torginus|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nradov|4 years ago|reply
https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2014/r...
[+] [-] hncurious|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xyzzy21|4 years ago|reply
Part of what I loved about living in Asia (Taipei, Tokyo, et al.) was that public transit required walking to, between and from stations/stops. It's not much but it's just enough.
[+] [-] kiba|4 years ago|reply
Research had came out indicating that exercise doesn't really do much good in losing weight. Might help in maintaining weight.
[+] [-] mc32|4 years ago|reply
Something else is a major contributor to this.
[+] [-] sershe|4 years ago|reply
You can eat anything - vegetables, meat, fish, potatoes, pasta, bread - and be pretty thin. If you add 500 calories of dressing to a salad, then no matter what you eat, you are doomed... also, that and spices would bomb out your taste buds, so you wouldn't even be able to enjoy "purer" food anymore.
[+] [-] JumpCrisscross|4 years ago|reply
What would this look like policywise?
[+] [-] epi789|4 years ago|reply
- In the documentary Fed Up, it showed how Michelle Obama had to back down to the big food companies over her push for healthier food.
- I worked with bariatric surgeons and some incredibly cited papers stating that people can’t lose weight by diet and exercise alone. The surgeons I knew were incredibly narrow-minded and uninterested in any counter arguments.
- Sleeve gastrectomies are the most effective technology to fight obesity. If someone can’t change on their own in 10 years, then it is a good option. It removes 90% of the stomach including the hunger hormone ghrelin.
- The surgeon I worked with had a sleeve procedure, stretched his stomach out, and had a 2nd sleeve.
- Long term, the food environment has to change. Living expenses are high, work demands are high, people are stressed and all the easy options are terrible for you.
- We should distribute good meats, foods, vegetables and essentials in an entirely new way.
- Our business leaders like Buffett and Gates need to realize the absurdity of respectively owning Coca Cola and selling potatoes to the fast food industry. Buffet also owns DaVita, a dialysis company. Gates promotes global health but earns money from french fries being sold at McDonalds.
[+] [-] canjobear|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] echelon|4 years ago|reply
Sugar is in everything. Snacks, restaurant food, drinks, sauces. It puts the metabolism into a bad state and desensitizes the body to its deleterious effects. Before you know it you're overweight, mentally foggy, and pre-diabetic. Not a good place to start working out or going for outdoor activities.
People exercise and walk more when they have energy to do so. Sugar saps that away.
Look at people in other "confined" spaces: submarines, ships, the space station. These people are not overweight for lack of walking.
It's diet.
America is pumped full of sugar.
edit to respond to comments (since I'm flagged / rate limited) :
Someone with a healthy body and mind won't "sit on their ass 23 hours a day". They won't consume too many calories, either.
Sugar pushes the body into more lethargy and higher sugar consumption.
[+] [-] paulddraper|4 years ago|reply
Do people want walkable cities? Or do they want single-family dwellings and yards?
Do people want to be healthy? Or do they want sugary foods and television programs?
Fortunately, the U.S. has plenty of each, to accommodate multiple preferences.
Life is trade-offs. It's the conceit of policy makers to force their trade-off preferences on people.
[+] [-] sharkmerry|4 years ago|reply
I wonder if we would find better connections between disease and "weight" with body fat % or similar measure.
[+] [-] streptomycin|4 years ago|reply
On a population level, BMI actually underestimates obesity https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/bmi-underestimates-pr... so the real obesity percentage is probably even worse than 42.4%
[+] [-] flying_kangaroo|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sam0x17|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Falling3|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raspasov|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wiremine|4 years ago|reply
1. Is it a "good enough" metric? 2. Is it "wildly inaccurate" for most, or just some outliers?
[+] [-] newaccount2021|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] not_obese|4 years ago|reply
My point is that measuring obesity purely by weight is naive and leads to massive overcounting.
[+] [-] kleiba|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 542458|4 years ago|reply
I’ve seen people exposing “body neutrality” lately - the idea that you should detach your sense of self worth from your body entirely, and simply view it as a functional thing. For example: “I’m not a bad or failed person because I’m overweight. I appreciate that my body allows me to live my life. However, my weight is negatively affecting the functionality of my body, and so I would like to change that”. Personally I think this is a much healthier mentality.
[+] [-] codyswann|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]