Obesity and Fat Issues
The justification for the war on obesity
is, of course, the claim "fat is deadly!" However, sound scientific
research shows that overweight-ness is not a disease, not all body fat
is the same, and that just being fat doesn't make us unhealthy. Risks
inappropriately attributed to fatness also aren't differentiated from
those due to dieting, sedentary lifestyles, eating poorly and other factors.
The majority of Americans who've been labeled "fat" are typically
mischaracterized in the media as all being extremely obese. While attempting
to magnify the obesity crisis and frighten us by implying all fat people
have similar risks, the extremely obese represent a mere 4.7 percent of
us. Little research has been done on this rare group, leaving their health
risks largely speculative and possibly overstated, certainly not a fitting
basis for public policy. In fact, it's notable that extremely obese women
still have longer life expectancies than normal-weight men. And, for most
of us? A considerable amount of research as shown that being overweight
has healthful benefits. But, good news about fat is never spoken. There
are no splashy headlines: "Being overweight as you age quadruples
your chances of living longer!"
Source: Techcentralstation.com 2003
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